dun
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English dun, dunne, from Old English dunn (“dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black”), from Proto-Germanic *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 Late Brythonic (compare Old Welsh dwnn 'dark (red)'), from Proto-Celtic *dusno (compare Old Irish donn), from Proto-Indo-European *dwos (compare Old Saxon dosan 'chestnut brown'). More at dusk.
PronunciationEdit
- Rhymes: -ʌn
NounEdit
dun (usually uncountable, plural duns)
- A brownish grey colour.
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dun colour:
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TranslationsEdit
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AdjectiveEdit
dun (not comparable)
- Of a brownish grey colour.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130:
- If ſnow be white, why then her breſts are dun
- 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130:
TranslationsEdit
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Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Unknown; perhaps a variant of din. Several sources suggest origin from Joe Dun, the name of a bailiff known for arresting debtors, but this is controversial.
NounEdit
dun (plural duns)
- (countable) A collector of debts.
- 1933, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Ch. 18:
- Melancholy duns came looking for him at all hours.
- 1970, John Glassco, Memoirs of Montparnasse, New York 2007, p. 102:
- ‘Frank's worried about duns,’ she said as the butler went away.
- An urgent request or demand of payment.
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2016 September 22, catherbrownbooks, “1950s Linotype Part Catalog, Star Parts, Linotype Parts Company”, in eBay[1]:
- If your payment is delayed, ebay is liable to send a dun or two.
TranslationsEdit
VerbEdit
dun (third-person singular simple present duns, present participle dunning, simple past and past participle dunned)
- (transitive) To ask or beset a debtor for payment.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 577:
- 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.
- (transitive) To harass by continually repeating e.g. a request.
- 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 107:
- Rich bitches who had to be dunned for their milk bills would pay him right now.
- 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 107:
TranslationsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
Uncertain; likely from the color.
NounEdit
dun (plural duns)
- (countable) A newly hatched, immature mayfly; a mayfly subimago.
- (countable, fishing) A fly made to resemble the mayfly subimago.
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1676, Charles Cotton, The Compleat Angler. Being Instructions how to Angle for a Trout or Grayling in a Clear Stream, London: Richard Marriott, and Henry Brome, OCLC 228732346, March, page 59:
- We have besides for this Month a little Dun call'd a whirling Dun (though it is not the whirling Dun indeed, which is one of the best Flies we have) and for this the dubbing must be of the bottom fur of a Squirrels tail and the wing of the grey feather of a Drake.
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SynonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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Etymology 4Edit
- From Irish dún, Scottish Gaelic dùn, or Old Welsh din, "fortress". Cognate with Welsh dinas (“city”).
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
dun (plural duns)
- An ancient or medieval fortification; especially a hill-fort in Scotland or Ireland.
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1858, Henry MacLauchlan, Memoir written during a survey of the Roman Wall, through the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland, in the years 1852-1854, London: Printed for private circulation, OCLC 14866297, page 9:
- Pampedun, or Pandon, was probably a place of residence from the earliest times; its sheltered situation for boats, and proximity to the ancient way over the river, protected perhaps by a dun or camp, on the height above [...] possibly gave origin to the ancient name of the place, Pampedun, from the British pant, a hollow, and dun, a fort or camp, Pant-y-dun.
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- (archeology) A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse surrounded by a circular wall; a broch.
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2013, T.J. Clarkson, The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings, Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN 1780271735:
- Smaller than the broch was the dun, another type of stone-built 'roundhouse'.
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Etymology 5Edit
See do.
VerbEdit
dun
- (nonstandard, informal) Eye dialect spelling of done: past participle of do
- Now, ya dun it!
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1895 May 1, S.L.N. Foote, “Correspondence”, in International Journal of Medicine and Surgery[2], volume 8, retrieved 2016–13–10, page 194:
- ...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."
- (nonstandard, informal) Eye dialect spelling of don't: contraction of do + not.
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1901, Gilbert Parker, The Right of Way, New York and London: Harper, OCLC 169519:
- Fwhere's he come from, I dun'no'. French or English, I dun'no'. But a gintleman born, I know.
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Etymology 6Edit
Likely from the color of fish so prepared.
VerbEdit
dun (third-person singular simple present duns, present participle dunning, simple past and past participle dunned)
- (transitive, dated) To cure, as codfish, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered with saltgrass or a similar substance.
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1832, James Thacher, History of Plymouth; from its first settlement in 1620, to the year 1832, Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, OCLC 78447431, page 317:
- 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.
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Etymology 7Edit
See dune.
NounEdit
dun (plural duns)
Etymology 8Edit
Imitative.
InterjectionEdit
dun
- (humorous) Imitating suspenseful music.
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2009, Carrie Tucker, I Love Geeks: The Official Handbook, Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, ISBN 9781605500232:
- How would you deal with that power? (Dun, dun, DUN! Insert dramatic music here.)
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ReferencesEdit
- dun in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
AnagramsEdit
DanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
dun n (singular definite dunet, plural indefinite dun)
- down (soft, immature feathers)
InflectionEdit
See alsoEdit
dun on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
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Audio (file)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch dunne, from Old Dutch *thunni, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz. Cognates with English thin (Compare West-Flemish thinne).
AdjectiveEdit
dun (comparative dunner, superlative dunst)
InflectionEdit
| Inflection of dun | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uninflected | dun | |||
| inflected | dunne | |||
| comparative | dunner | |||
| positive | comparative | superlative | ||
| predicative/adverbial | dun | dunner | het dunst het dunste |
|
| indefinite | m./f. sing. | dunne | dunnere | dunste |
| n. sing. | dun | dunner | dunste | |
| plural | dunne | dunnere | dunste | |
| definite | dunne | dunnere | dunste | |
| partitive | duns | dunners | — | |
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
VerbEdit
dun
GalicianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From de (“of”) + un (“masculine singular indefinite article”)
ContractionEdit
dun m
See alsoEdit
KiputEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-North Sarawak *daqun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun (compare Malay daun).
NounEdit
dun
LojbanEdit
MandarinEdit
RomanizationEdit
dun
- Nonstandard spelling of dūn.
- Nonstandard spelling of dún.
- Nonstandard spelling of dǔn.
- Nonstandard spelling of dùn.
Usage notesEdit
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Old EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Apparently from a Celtic source; compare Old Irish dun (“hill, hill-fort”), Welsh din.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
dūn f
DeclensionEdit
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- English: down