tawny

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Of a light brown to brownish orange colour

   Of a light brown to brownish orange colour; orangey brown tinged with gold.

   • And if any of your nation attempte once to ſtoppe me in my iorney now towards Calais, […] I in my defence ſhall colour and make red your tawny ground with the effuſion of chriſtian bloud: […]
   • The VVooſell cock, ſo blacke of hevve, / VVith Orange tavvny bill, / The Throſtle, vvith his note ſo true, / The VVren, vvith little quill.
   • Come, vve muſt haue you turne Fiddler againe, ſlaue, 'get a Baſe Violin at your backe, and march in a Tavvnie Coate, vvith one ſleeue, to Gooſe-faire, and then you'll knovve vs; […]
2. 2

   To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour

   To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.

   • So many friends, their friendſhips daily breake, / That fevve are faithfull, if that fevve be any: / The Sunne ſo ſoone, the painted face vvill tavvny.
   • He [Vulcan] ſmels all ſmoake, and vvith his naſty ſvveate / Tavvnies my skinne, out on him vgly knaue, / Mars is my loue, and he my ſvveets ſhall haue.
   • Alas 'tis faded, ſoyl'd vvith the ſmoke of Luſt; / So ſvvarthy as if that glorious face of thine / VVere tavvnyed underneath the torrid Line: […]
3. 3

   To become a light brown to brownish orange colour

   To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.

   • The countenance alone bespoke the years and the cares of John M‘Whirter. The deep wrinkled brow—the cheek plaited, and tawnied in the sun and the frosts of the north— […]
   • [C]olheita is actually a tawny Port from a single vintage. In other words, it has aged (and softened and tawnied) in wood for many years.
4. ›+ 7 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A light brown to brownish orange colour.

      • Neere to Canuſia, the ſheepe be deepe yellovv or tavvnie; and about Tarentum, they are of a brovvne and duſkiſh colour.
      • Despise not my discolour'd look: / This tawny from the sun I took.
   2. 5

      Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word…

      Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name).

   3. 6

      In full tawny port

      In full tawny port: a sweet, fortified port wine which is blended and matured in wooden casks.

      • A ten-year-old tawny is a good place to start with a tawny port novice, who might otherwise be put off by the oxidized flavors (i.e., more wood and earth notes than fruit) that come with a very old tawny.
   4. 7

      A fabric of a light brown to brownish orange colour.

      • You ſhall doe well to ſend ſuch ſorts [of clothes] as be liuely to the ſight, and ſome blackes for womens garments, with ſome Orenge colours and tawneis.
   5. 8

      A person with skin of a brown colour.

      • The Tavvnies among vvhom vve came, have VVatered our Soyl, vvith the Blood, of many Hundred of our Inhabitants.
      • Senegal ſeparates the Azoaghes, Moors or Tavvnies, from the real Blacks; ſo that on one ſide of the River are the Moors of a Tavvny Complexion, and the other is Inhabited by People that are perfectly Black.
   6. 9

      Tawny frogmouth.

   7. 10

      Tawny owl.

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