dun

• IPA^(key): /dʌn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /dʊn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn
• Homophones: done, Donn, Donne, Dunn, Dunne

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.

dun (usually uncountable, plural duns)

1. A brownish grey colour.

   dun:  

   Synonym: claybank

dun (not comparable)

1. Of a brownish grey colour.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 134, column 2, lines 48–49:

     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.

   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 130”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […]‎^[1], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     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: [...]

   • 1827, [John Keble], “Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity”, in The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 85:

     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.

   • 2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal One (Legendary):

     Where is the nobility in these streets paved with greasy carbon and dun ash?

• bawn
• durmast oak
• Appendix:Colors

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.

dun (plural duns)

1. (countable) A collector of debts, especially one who is insistent and demanding.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 162–163:

     "The truth is, Mr. Curl, I cannot write when I am plagued about trifles; and a tiresome dun this morning put to flight every idea that I had in the world."
     "Mr. Maynard," said the bookseller, in a solemn tone, "it is very wrong to run in debt."

   • 1889 [1712], John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull, London: Cassell & Co., →OCLC, page 71:

     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.

   • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XVIII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

     Melancholy duns came looking for him at all hours.

   • 1970, John Glassco, Memoirs of Montparnasse, New York, published 2007, page 102:

     ‘Frank's worried about duns,’ she said as the butler went away.

2. An urgent request or demand of payment.
   • 1842, A.B.G., “Errata”, in Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, volume 13, →OCLC, page 251:

     Miss Hoppin received a dun for volume 9 1840–1 which Mr. James McConnell, (who now pays the above) is sure was paid.

• dun letter

dun (third-person singular simple present duns, present participle dunning, simple past and past participle dunned)

1. (transitive) To ask or beset a debtor for payment.
   • 1768, Jonathan Swift, The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, London: C. Bathurst, →OCLC, Miscellanies in Verse, page 309:

     And hath she sent so soon to dun?

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
     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.

2. (transitive) To harass by continually repeating e.g. a request.
   • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 107:

     Rich bitches who had to be dunned for their milk bills would pay him right now.

Uncertain; likely from the color.

dun (plural duns)

1. (countable) A newly hatched, immature mayfly; a mayfly subimago.
   • 1966, John Harris, An Angler's Entomology, New York: Barnes, →OCLC, page 16:

     Also, duns are dull and generally sober colored, whilst spinners are more brightly colored and shining and their wings are clear and transparent.

2. (countable, fishing) A fly made to resemble the mayfly subimago.
   • 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, 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.

• subimago

From Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“fortress”). Cognate with Welsh dinas (“city”). Doublet of town.

• doon
• dún

dun (plural duns)

2. An ancient or medieval fortification; especially a hill-fort in Scotland or Ireland.
   • 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, 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.

3. (archaeology) A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse surrounded by a circular wall; a broch.
   • 2013, T.J. Clarkson, The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings, Edinburgh: Birlinn, →ISBN:

     Smaller than the broch was the dun, another type of stone-built 'roundhouse'.

See do.

dun

1. (nonstandard, informal) Eye dialect spelling of done: past participle of do.

   Now, ya dun it!

   • 1895 May, S.L.N. Foote, “Correspondence”, in International Journal of Medicine and Surgery‎^[2], volume 8, retrieved 2016–10–13, 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."

   • 2001 April 1, Robert Frost, Poems by Robert Frost: A Boy's Will and North of Boston‎^[3], Penguin, →ISBN, →OCLC:

     “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. […]

2. (nonstandard, informal) Pronunciation spelling of don't: contraction of do not.
   • 1901, Gilbert Parker, The Right of Way, New York and London: Harper, →OCLC:

     Fwhere's he come from, I dun'no'. French or English, I dun'no'. But a gintleman born, I know.

Likely from the color of fish so prepared.

dun (third-person singular simple present duns, present participle dunning, simple past and past participle dunned)

1. (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.
   • 1832, James Thacher, History of Plymouth; from its first settlement in 1620, to the year 1832, Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, →OCLC, 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.

See dune.

dun (plural duns)

1. A mound or small hill.

Imitative.

dun

1. Imitating a deep bass note, such as that found in suspenseful music.
   • 2009, Carrie Tucker, I Love Geeks: The Official Handbook, Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, →ISBN:

     How would you deal with that power? (Dun, dun, DUN! Insert dramatic music here.)

   • 2015, Lisa Dombrowski, The Films of Samuel Fuller: If You Die, I’ll Kill You, page 113:

     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.

   • 2016, Helen Russell, Leap Year: How small steps can make a giant difference:

     '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.

   • 2020, Spencer Hamilton, The Fear: A Pandemic Horror Novel:

     Whenever that iconic riff in the score cued up—Dun dun ... dun dun ... dun dun dun dun dun-dun-dun-dun ... —Jack's heart would race, and she'd feel the fear on her skin.

• dun dun dun

dun (plural duns)

1. Alternative form of dhoon (“Himalayan valley”).

• “dun”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• DNU, und

From Latin dum.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdun/ [ˈd̪ũŋ]
• Rhymes: -uŋ
• Hyphenation: dun

dun

1. (literary or archaic) while

   Synonyms: mentes, demientres, mentanto

   • 1861, José Sánchez de Santa María, Evanxeliu según San Mateu (translation of the Gospel of Matthew):

     dun estás con elli entovía nel camin [...] Entanto llegó Xesús con illos á un caseríu llamáu Xesmaní, y díxoyos: Asentáivos aquí, dun vo yo allí, y fago oracion.

     while you are still with him on the road [...] Meanwhile, Jesus arrived with them to a homstead called Gethsemane, and he told them: Sit down here, while I go there and pray.

dun m (feminine duna, neuter duno, masculine plural dunos, feminine plural dunes)

1. (obsolete) of a (modern d'un)
   • 1843, Juan Junquera Huergo, Llos Trabayos de Chinticu:

     Dempos dun bon rellatu

     After (of) a good story

• “dun” in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana. Xosé Lluis García Arias. →ISBN.

• IPA^(key): [dũ˦]

dun

1. to eat

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

• IPA^(key): /dun/ [d̪ũn]
• Rhymes: -un
• Hyphenation: dun

dun

1. Informal second-person singular feminine (hik), taking third-person singular (hura) as direct object, present indicative form of izan.

Linguistically, this verb form can be seen as belonging to the reconstructed citation form edun instead of izan.

dun

1. Feminine allocutive form of da.

From Old Norse dúnn (“down”). Related to dyne.

• IPA^(key): /duːn/, [d̥uːˀn]

dun n (singular definite dunet, plural indefinite dun)

1. down (soft, immature feathers)

• “dun” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “dun” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog
• dun on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

• IPA^(key): /dʏn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dun
• Rhymes: -ʏn
• Homophone: Dun

From Middle Dutch dunne, from Old Dutch *thunni, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz. Cognate with English thin (Compare West-Flemish thinne).

dun (comparative dunner, superlative dunst)

1. thin, slender
2. sparse
3. (liquid) runny

Declension 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	—

• dicht, dik

• Afrikaans: dun
• Berbice Creole Dutch: doni
• Negerhollands: dun, din
• → Aukan: deni, doin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

dun

1. inflection of dunnen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

From de (“of”) + un (“masculine singular indefinite article”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈduŋ/ [ˈd̪uŋ]
• Rhymes: -uŋ
• Hyphenation: dun

dun m (feminine dunha, masculine plural duns, feminine plural dunhas)

1. contraction of de un From a; of a

• “dun, dunha”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

• duhn

Borrowed from Low German duun.

• IPA^(key): /duːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

dun (strong nominative masculine singular duner, comparative duner, superlative am dunsten)

1. (colloquial, chiefly Northern Germany) drunk
   • 1998, “Du (äh, Du)”, in Power, performed by Fischmob:

     Ich war dun die Nacht
     Und hatte mit chemischen Drogen aus Amerika herumexperimentiert
     Bis ich das Bewußtsein verlor

     I was drunk that night / and had experimented with synthetic drugs from America / until I lost consciousness

• “dun” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “dun” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “dun” in Duden online

From Central Franconian dun, from Middle High German duon, from Old High German duon, from Proto-West Germanic *dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-.^[1]

Cognate with German tun, Kölsch dunn and Luxembourgish doen.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtuːn/, /ˈtoːn/
• Rhymes: -uːn, -oːn
• Syllabification: dun

dun

1. (auxiliary) will; to be going to; forms the future tense [with infinitive]

   Ich dun das mache.

   I will do that.

2. (auxiliary) to be; forms the progressive aspect [with infinitive]

   Was dun-se mache.

   What are they doing.

3. (transitive) to put, to place, to add [with accusative]

   Synonym: stelle

   Du mol en bissje Eis in de Suco.

   Put some ice in the juice.

4. (intransitive) to do [with accusative]

   Heit hon-ich nichs se dun.

   I have nothing to do today.

From Proto-North Sarawak *daqun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun (compare Malay daun).

dun

1. leaf

dun

1. nonstandard spelling of dūn
2. nonstandard spelling of dǔn
3. nonstandard spelling of dùn

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

dun

1. alternative form of doun

dun

1. alternative form of doun

From Old Norse dúnn.

dun f or m (definite singular duna or dunen, indefinite plural duner, definite plural dunene)
dun n (definite singular dunet, indefinite plural dun, definite plural duna or dunene)

1. down (soft, fine fluffy feathers)

• “dun” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “dun” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Old Norse dúnn m.

dun f or n (definite singular duna or dunet, indefinite plural duner or dun, definite plural dunene or duna)

1. down (soft, fine fluffy feathers)

• “dun” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-West Germanic *dūnu, *dūnā (“sand dune”), possibly from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (“heap, pile”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, fume, raise dust”); or alternatively a late borrowing from Proto-Celtic *dūnom from the same Proto-Indo-European source.

• IPA^(key): /duːn/

dūn f

1. hill, mountain
   • Old English Heptateuch, Genesis 22:2

     "Nim þīnne āncennedan sunu Īsaac, þe þū lufast, and far tō þām lande Visionis hraþe, and ġeoffra hine þǣr uppan ānre dūne."

     "Take your only-begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and quickly go to the land of Visionis, and sacrifice him there upon a mountain."

Strong ō-stem:

• Middle English: doun, doune
  • English: down
  • Scots: doun, down

• IPA^(key): /dun/

dun

1. alternative form of dunn

From Latin donum.

• IPA^(key): /dun/

dun oblique singular, m (oblique plural duns, nominative singular duns, nominative plural dun)

1. (Anglo-Norman) alternative form of don
   • c. 1150, Turoldus, La Chanson de Roland:

     E tute Espaigne tendrat par vostre dun

     And all of Spain he will hold as your gift

dun

1. alternative form of don (“to/for the”)

dun

1. alternative spelling of dún (“fort(ress)”)

dun

1. alternative spelling of dúnn (“to/for us”)

Probably from Ewe dūn (“stare, unmoving gaze”).^[1]

dun

1. Signifies astonishment, bewilderment, stupefaction

From Old Norse dúnn (“down”).

• IPA^(key): /dʉːn/

dun n

1. down (soft, fine fluffy feathers)

• dun in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Blend of English do and German tun (“to do”).

• IPA^(key): /dun/

dun (nominative plural duns)

1. deed, action, act, doing

   Synonym: dunam

• dunam (“act”)
• dunön (“to do”)

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /dɨ̞n/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /dɪn/

dun

1. soft mutation of tun (“tin”)

dun (definite form dun bi)

1. island

Cognates include Itsekiri yọ̀n, Olukumi yọ̀n, Ifè ɖɔ̃̀. Likely from the same root as yọ̀n and the /y/ alternatives.

• IPA^(key): /dũ̀/

dùn

1. to be sweet, to be pleasant

• it induces a high tone syllable when followed by another verb, becoming dùn-ún and subcategorizes an embedded clause.

Yoruba varieties and languages: dùn (“to be sweet”)
view map; edit data
Language family	Variety group	Variety/language	Subdialect	Location	Words
Proto-Itsekiri-SEY	Southeast Yoruba	Ào		Ìdóàní	yàn
		Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè)		Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè)	yùn
		Ìjẹ̀bú	Ìjẹ̀bú	Ìjẹ̀bú Òde	yùn
			Rẹ́mọ	Ẹ̀pẹ́	yùn
				Ìkòròdú	yùn
				Ṣágámù	yùn
		Ìkálẹ̀ (Ùkálẹ̀)		Òkìtìpupa	yọ̀n
		Ìlàjẹ (Ùlàjẹ)		Mahin	yọ̀n
		Oǹdó		Oǹdó	yọ̀n
		Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀)		Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀)	yọ̀n
	Ìtsẹkírì			Ìwẹrẹ	yọ̀n
	Olùkùmi			Ugbódù	yọ̀n
Proto-Yoruba	Central Yoruba	Èkìtì	Èkìtì	Àdó Èkìtì	yụ̀n, dụ̀n
			Àkúrẹ́	Àkúrẹ́	yụ̀n, dụ̀n
			Mọ̀bà	Ọ̀tùn Èkìtì	yụ̀n, dụ̀n
	Northwest Yoruba	Àwórì		Èbúté Mẹ́tà	dùn
		Èkó		Èkó	dùn
		Ìbàdàn		Ìbàdàn	dùn
		Ìlọrin		Ìlọrin	dùn
		Oǹkó		Òtù	dọ̀n
				Ìwéré Ilé	dọ̀n
				Òkèhò	dùn
				Ìsẹ́yìn	dọ̀n
				Ṣakí	dọ̀n
				Tedé	dùn
				Ìgbẹ́tì	dùn
		Ọ̀yọ́		Ọ̀yọ́	dùn
		Standard Yorùbá		Nàìjíríà	dùn
				Bɛ̀nɛ̀	dùn
	Northeast Yoruba/Okun	Ìyàgbà		Ìsánlú Ìtẹ̀dó	dùn
		Owé		Kabba	dùn
	Ede languages/Southwest Yoruba	Ifɛ̀		Akpáré	ɖɔ̃̀
				Atakpamɛ	ɖɔ̃̀
				Tchetti (Tsɛti, Cɛti)	ɖɔ̃̀
Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo.

• IPA^(key): /dũ̀/

dùn

1. to hurt, to be painful (physically)

   egbò ń dùn mí ― The ulcer is hurting me

2. to be painful (mentally)

   ó dùn mí pé ó kú ― It pained me that she died

• dun before a direct object

• ìdùn
• adùn (“pain”)

• IPA^(key): /dṹ/

dún

1. (transitive) to emit a sound

   ẹyẹ yìí dún ― This bird made a sound

• ìdún (“sonority”)
• adún (“sonorous”)