# dun

> English word · Noun · IPA /dʌn/ · frequency rank #18,810

## Definitions
1. A brownish grey colour.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **dw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dw)
- **Dx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dx)
- **DV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dv)
- **dy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dy)
- **DVD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dvd)
- **duo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-duo)
- **dye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dye)
- **dup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dup)
- **dur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dur)
- **DWP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dwp)
- **duty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-duty)
- **dust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dust)
- **Dunn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dunn)
- **dunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dunk)
- **dusk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dusk)
- **dune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dune)
- **dung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dung)
- **dupe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dupe)
- **dura** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dura)
- **dunno** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dun-vs-dunno)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dun