Where does “dun” come from?

dun (Middle English) comes from Old English dunn, from Proto-Germanic dusnaz, from Proto-Indo-European dʰewh₂- — smoke; mist, haze.

Ancestry of “dun”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishdunnbrown; bleak, dark, dim
2Proto-Germanicdusnazbrownish; brown; yellow
3Proto-Indo-Europeandʰewh₂-smoke; mist, haze

Words derived from “dun

Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰewh₂-
dun — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer