English
dun
Dun comes from Old English dunn ‘dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, raise dust’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-1‘to smoke, raise dust’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duznaz1‘brown, yellow’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*duʀn1reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dunn1‘dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dun1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606dun1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English dun
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Come, thick Night, And pall thee in the dunneſt…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-Wiktionary, English dun‘to smoke, raise dust’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duznazWiktionary, English dun‘brown, yellow’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*duʀnWiktionary, English dunreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dunnWiktionary, English dun‘dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dunWiktionary, English dun
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606dunWiktionary, English dun. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Come, thick Night, And pall thee in the dunneſt…”
The story
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’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, raise dust’
down, steam, dye, dew, funk, dag, fume, duvet, thymus, dune, obfuscate, fumigation, typhon, 27 more
Another origin of dun
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewh₂-‘to last’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*duh₂-nós‘lasting, durable’uncertain
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*dūnom‘fortress’reconstructed
- Old Irishc. 600–900dún
- Irishc. 1200–presentdún‘fort’uncertain
- Englishtodaydun
Today it means
noun A brownish grey colour.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dun”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.