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dun

 - 6 dictionary results
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dun

1  [duhn] verb, dunned, dun⋅ning, noun
Use dun in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to make repeated and insistent demands upon, esp. for the payment of a debt.
–noun
2. a person, esp. a creditor, who duns another.
3. a demand for payment, esp. a written one.
Origin:
1620–30; orig. obscure
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dun

2  [duhn]
–adjective
1. dull, grayish brown.
2. dark; gloomy.
–noun
3. a dun color.
4. a dun-colored horse with a black mane and tail.
5. mayfly.
6. Angling. dun fly.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME dun(ne), OE dunn; c. OS dun

Related forms:
dunness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To dun
dun 1   (dŭn)   
tr.v.   dunned, dun·ning, duns
To importune (a debtor) for payment: a dunning letter.
n.  

  1. One that duns.

  2. An importunate demand for payment.


[Origin unknown.]
dun 2   (dŭn)   
n.  

  1. An almost neutral brownish gray to dull grayish brown.

  2. A fishing fly having this color.

  3. A horse of this color.


[Middle English, from Old English dunn, perhaps of Celtic origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dun  (v.)
"to insist on payment of debt," c.1626, perhaps related to dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din," or shortened from dunkirk (1602) "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk, French port from which they sailed. Yet another, less likely, theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters.

dun  (adj.)
O.E. dunn "dingy brown, dark-colored," perhaps from Celt. (cf. O.Ir. donn "dark"), from PIE *donnos, *dusnos "dark."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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