dun

noun

/dʌn/

Etymology

From Middle English dun, donn, dunne, from Old English dunn (“dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black”), from Proto-West Germanic *duʀn, from Proto-Germanic *duznaz, *dusnaz (“brown, yellow”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Old Saxon dun (“brown, dark”), Old High German tusin (“ash-gray, dull brown, pale yellow, dark”), Old Norse dunna (“female mallard; duck”). Alternative etymology derives the Old English word from Brythonic (compare Middle Welsh dwnn (“dark (red)”)), from Proto-Celtic *dusnos (compare Old Irish donn and Scottish Gaelic donn (“brown”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰews- (compare Old Saxon dosan (“chestnut brown”)). More at dusk.

derived from *dʰews-✻
derived from *dusnos✻
inherited from *dʰewh₂-✻ — “to smoke, raise dust”
inherited from *dusnaz✻
inherited from *duʀn✻
inherited from dunn — “dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black”
inherited from dun

Definitions

A brownish grey colour.
2
Of a brownish grey colour.
- Come, thick Night, And pall thee in the dunneſt ſmoake of Hell, That my keene Knife ſee not the Wound it makes, Nor Heauen peepe through the Blanket of the darke, To cry, hold, hold.
- My Miſtres eyes are nothing like the Sunne, Currall is farre more red, then her lips red, If ſnow be white, why then her breſts are dun: If hairs be wiers, black wiers grow on her head: [...]
- Red o'er the forest glows the setting sun, / The line of yellow light dies fast away / That crown'd the eastern copse, and chill and dun / Falls on the moor the brief November day.
3
A collector of debts, especially one who is insistent and demanding.
- Look ye, gentlemen, I have lived with credit in the world, and it grieves my heart never to stir out of my doors but to be pulled by the sleeve by some rascally dun or other.
- Melancholy duns came looking for him at all hours.
›+ 21 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  An urgent request or demand of payment.
  - Miss Hoppin received a dun for volume 9 1840–1 which Mr. James McConnell, (who now pays the above) is sure was paid.
2. 5
  To ask or beset a debtor for payment.
  - And hath she sent so soon to dun?
  - Of all he had received from Lady Bellaston, not above five guineas remained and that very morning he had been dunned by a tradesman for twice that sum.
3. 6
  To harass by continually repeating e.g. a request.
  - Rich bitches who had to be dunned for their milk bills would pay him right now.
4. 7
  A newly hatched, immature mayfly
  A newly hatched, immature mayfly; a mayfly subimago.
  - Also, duns are dull and generally sober colored, whilst spinners are more brightly colored and shining and their wings are clear and transparent.
5. A fly made to resemble the mayfly subimago.
6. An ancient or medieval fortification
  An ancient or medieval fortification; especially a hill-fort in Scotland or Ireland.
7. 10
  A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse…
  A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse surrounded by a circular wall; a broch.
  - Smaller than the broch was the dun, another type of stone-built 'roundhouse'.
8. 11
  Eye dialect spelling of done
  Eye dialect spelling of done: past participle of do.
  - Now, ya dun it!
  - ...a wise old lady exclaimed, "Why Mrs. M. warn't you orful skeerd wunst when you seed a dog fight? [...] an that ere big yaller dog bit orf your baby's hand that minit; in cors he dun it, so now that settles it."
  - “Oh, Because I want their dollar. I don't want Anything they've not got. I never dun. I'm there, and they can pay me if they like. I go nowhere on purpose: I happen by. Sorry there is no cup to give you a drink.[…]
9. 12
  Pronunciation spelling of don't
  Pronunciation spelling of don't: contraction of do + not.
  - Fwhere's he come from, I dun'no'. French or English, I dun'no'. But a gintleman born, I know.
10. 13
  To cure, as codfish, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered…
  To cure, as codfish, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered with saltgrass or a similar substance.
  - Dun-fish are of a superior quality for the table, and are cured in such a manner as to give them a dun or brownish color. Fish for dunning are caught early in spring, and sometimes February, at the Isle of Shoals.
11. A mound or small hill.
12. 15
  Imitating a deep bass note, such as that found in suspenseful music.
  - How would you deal with that power? (Dun, dun, DUN! Insert dramatic music here.)
  - Dun, dun! Dun, dun! As the music continues, the long shot of Griff's walk is broken down into repeating tight shots of his face, his legs, and his shifting point of view of Brockie.
  - 'DUN DUN DUN DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN! DUN DUN DUN DUNDUN-DUN-DUN... PRESSURE!' By 2.05 a.m. I am Very Awake Indeed and the catastrophising continues.
13. Alternative form of dhoon (“Himalayan valley”).
14. A river in Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, which flows into the River Kennet.
15. A river in Wiltshire and Hampshire, England, which flows into the River Test.
16. An alternative name for the River Don in Yorkshire, England.
17. A river in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, alternatively named the Glendun River.
18. A settlement and parish in Angus council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NO6659).
19. A surname
20. a state legislative assembly
21. a state legislative assembly seat

The neighborhood

synonymsubimago

Derived

dun letter, Barnby Dun, Bridge of Dun, Dunbridge

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at dun. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at dun. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

5 hops · closes at dun

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA