dun - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

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

colour

dun (not comparable)

  1. Of a brownish grey colour.

of a brownish grey colour

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.
    • 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 (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?
    • 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.

to ask for payment

to harass by continually repeating a request

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.

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

dun (plural duns)

  1. 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.
  2. (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 (plural duns)

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

dun

  1. to eat

dun

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

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

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

dun n (singular definite dunet, plural indefinite **dun)

  1. down (soft, immature feathers)

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 dunsthet dunste
indefinite m./f. sing. dunne dunnere dunste
n. sing. dun dunner dunste
plural dunne dunnere dunste
definite dunne dunnere dunste
partitive duns dunners —

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”).

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

  1. Contraction of de un. From a; of a

Borrowed from Low German duun.

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

Inherited 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.

dun

  1. (auxiliary, with an infinitive) will; to be going (to do something); forms the future tense
    Ich dun das mache.
    I will do that.
  2. (auxiliary, with an infinitive) to be; forms the progressive aspect
    Was dun-se mache.
    What are they doing.
  3. (transitive, with an accusative object) to put, to place, to add
    Synonym: stelle
    Du mol en bissje Eis in de Suco.
    Put some ice in the juice.
  4. (intransitive, with an accusative object) to do
    Heit hon-ich nichs se dun.
    I have nothing to do today.
Irregular with conditional mood
infinitive dun
participle gedun
auxiliary hon
presentindicative conditional imperative
ich dun däd —
du dust däst du
er/sie/es dud däd —
meer dun däde —
deer dud däd dud
sie dun däde —
The use of the present participle is uncommon, but can be made with the suffix -end.
  1. ^ Piter Kehoma Boll (2021) “dun”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português (in Portuguese), 3rd edition, Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 39

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.

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)

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)

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.

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."

Declension of dūn (strong ō-stem)

From Latin donum.

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”)

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

dun

  1. Signifies astonishment, bewilderment, stupefaction

  2. ^ Norval Smith (2009) “A preliminary list of probable Gbe lexical items in the Surinam Creoles”, in P. Muysken, N. Smith, editors, Surviving the Middle Passage: The West Africa-Surinam Sprachbund, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, page 466.

From Old Norse dúnn (“down”).

dun n

  1. down (soft, fine fluffy feathers)
Declension of dun
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative dun dunet dun dunen
Genitive duns dunets duns dunens

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

dun (nominative plural duns)

  1. deed, action, act, doing
    Synonym: dunam

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.

dùn

  1. to be sweet, to be pleasant
Yoruba Varieties and Languages - dùn (“to be sweet”)
view map; edit data
Language Family Variety Group Variety/Language Location Words
Proto-Itsekiri-SEY Southeast Yoruba Ào Ìdóàní yàn
Ìdànrè Ìdànrè yùn
Ìjẹ̀bú Ìjẹ̀bú Òde yùn
Ìkòròdú yùn
Ṣágámù yùn
Ẹ̀pẹ́ yùn
Ìkálẹ̀ Òkìtìpupa yọ̀n
Ìlàjẹ Mahin yọ̀n
Oǹdó Oǹdó yọ̀n
Ọ̀wọ̀ Ọ̀wọ̀ yọ̀n
Ìtsẹkírì Ìwẹrẹ yọ̀n
Olùkùmi Ugbódù yọ̀n
Proto-Yoruba Central Yoruba Èkìtì Àdó Èkìtì yụ̀n, dụ̀n
Àkúrẹ́ yụ̀n, dụ̀n
Ọ̀tùn Èkìtì yụ̀n, dụ̀n
Northwest Yoruba Àwórì Èbúté Mẹ́tà dùn
Èkó Èkó dùn
Ìbàdàn Ìbàdàn dùn
Ìlọrin Ìlọrin dùn
Oǹkó Ìtẹ̀síwájú LGA dọ̀n
Ìwàjówà LGA dọ̀n
Kájọlà LGA dùn
Ìsẹ́yìn LGA dọ̀n
Ṣakí West LGA dọ̀n
Atisbo LGA dùn
Ọlọ́runṣògo LGA dùn
Ọ̀yọ́ Ọ̀yọ́ dùn
Standard Yorùbá Nàìjíríà dùn
Bɛ̀nɛ̀ dùn
Northeast Yoruba/Okun Ìyàgbà Yàgbà East LGA dùn
Owé Kabba dùn
Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba Ifɛ̀ Akpáré ɖɔ̃̀
Atakpamé ɖɔ̃̀
Tchetti ɖɔ̃̀

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

dún

  1. (transitive) to emit a sound
    ẹyẹ yìí dún ― This bird made a sound