† tawn, v. Obs. rare—1.
[app. an alteration of tan v. under the influence of tawny a.]
trans. To make tawny; to bronze, ‘tan’. So (rare) tawn n., the bronzing of the skin produced by exposure; occas. as adj., tan or tawny-coloured.
| 1721 Ramsay Tartana 94 While scorching Titan tawns the shepherd's brow. a 1734 North Lives (1826) III. 96 It was a considerable time before this upper lip having been long shaded..took the same tawn as the rest of his face. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick I. v. 48 This young fellow's..cheek is like a sun-toasted pear in hue... That man..looks a few shades lighter... In the complexion of a third still lingers a tropic tawn. 1920 E. Pound H. S. Mauberley 27 Tawn fore-shores. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 540 Redu Negru may be black in tawn. |