faun

[ fawn ]

nounClassical Mythology.
  1. one of a class of rural deities represented as men with the ears, horns, tail, and later also the hind legs of a goat.

Origin of faun

1
1325–75; Middle English (<Old French faune) <Latin faunus;cf. Faunus

Other words from faun

  • faunlike, adjective

Words that may be confused with faun

Words Nearby faun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use faun in a sentence

  • The palette was gentle and pretty, focusing on rose pinks, lavenders, dusky mauve, mint, faun and pale lemon.

  • They seemed creatures scarcely more sylvan than he, sprawled, like a loitering faun with his hands clasped behind his head.

    The Squirrel-Cage | Dorothy Canfield
  • He should go naked as a faun; such things roamed about the primeval woods seeking what they might devour.

    Olive in Italy | Moray Dalton
  • Mamise was amazed to find that the strenuous business man had so much of the faun in his soul.

    The Cup of Fury | Rupert Hughes
  • Dunstan, the charmed faun look in his eyes, prone at Minga's feet.

    Under the Law | Edwina Stanton Babcock
  • The house of the faun at Pompeii, which is the most richly paved of all, was a museum of mosaics.

    The Wonders of Pompeii | Marc Monnier

British Dictionary definitions for faun

faun

/ (fɔːn) /


noun
  1. (in Roman legend) a rural deity represented as a man with a goat's ears, horns, tail, and hind legs

Origin of faun

1
C14: back formation from Faunes (plural), from Latin Faunus

Derived forms of faun

  • faunlike, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012