Where does “tawny” come from?
Tawny comes from Middle English tawne, from Anglo-Norman tawné, from Old French tané, the past participle of taner, derived from tan, ultimately from Gaulish tanno and Proto-Celtic tannos or (s)tannos.
tawny (English): Of a light brown to brownish orange color; A...
Definitions
- Of a light brown to brownish orange color; A...
Ancestry of “tawny”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tauni | — |
| 2 | Old French | tané | past participle of taner; tan; tan-colored cloth |
| 3 | Old French | taner | to tan |
| 4 | Old French | tan | pulped oak bark used in the tanning process |
| 5 | Latin | tannum | oak bark |
| 6 | Gaulish | tannos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Celtic | tannos | green oak |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰonu | fir |
Words derived from “tawny”