dun

Meanings

Noun

  • A brownish grey colour.
  • A collector of debts.
  • An urgent request or demand of payment.
  • A newly hatched, immature mayfly; a mayfly subimago.
  • A fly made to resemble the mayfly subimago.
  • An ancient or medieval fortification; especially a hill-fort in Scotland or Ireland.
  • A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse surrounded by a circular wall; a broch.
  • A mound or small hill.
  • Alternative of dhoon

Adjective

Verb

  • To ask or beset a debtor for payment.
  • To harass by continually repeating e.g. a request.
  • Pronunciation spelling of don't: + not.
  • To cure, as codfish, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered with saltgrass or a similar substance.

Related

Similar words

Origin

  • 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 (compare Middle Welsh dwnn), from Proto-Celtic *dusnos (compare Old Irish donn), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰews- (compare Old Saxon dosan). More at dusk.
  • 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.
  • Uncertain; likely from the color.
  • From Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom. Cognate with Welsh dinas. town.
  • See do.
  • Likely from the color of fish so prepared.
  • See dune.
  • Imitative.

Modern English dictionary

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