Tawnier

Part of speech: adjective, comparative

Definitions

1. Exhibiting an enhanced warm, brownish tone that is often associated with a sun-kissed appearance
2. Representing a greater intensity of a light, golden-brown color often reminiscent of animal fur or autumn leaves
3. Showing a shade of light brownish yellow that is deeper and richer than the basic tawny color

Etymology: "Tawnier" is the comparative of "tawny," so it means more tawny, more golden-brown. The base word traces back to tanning. Tawny comes from Middle English "tauni" and "tawne," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "taune" and Old French "tané," meaning "of a tan colour." That French word was the past participle of "taner," "to turn hide into leather," which in turn came from "tan," the pulped oak bark that tanners used. The colour was named after leather, not the other way around. The bark itself goes further back. "Tan" is traced to Proto-Celtic "*tannos," meaning "green oak," and the Breton "tann" and Medieval Latin "tannāre," "to dye a tawny colour; to tan," are related forms. So a colour word in English ultimately descends from the name of a tree's bark, and a bullfinch's brownish plumage earned it a bird name too. The spelling "tawny" with -aw- reflects how the French word was pronounced, not its ancestry.

Synonyms: brownish, tan, beige, sandy, dusky

Antonyms: paler, whiter, lighter, fairer, whiter