awning
[aw-ning]
- a rooflike shelter of canvas or other material extending over a doorway, from the top of a window, over a deck, etc., in order to provide protection, as from the sun.
- a shelter.
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Origin of awning
First recorded in 1615–25; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for awning
Contemporary Examples
During the protests last year, some students climbed on top of the awning and wrote graffiti all over it.
Historical Examples
An awning from the house door to the curbstone, and a policeman!
KMary Roberts Rinehart
He said this was no way to treat volunteers, and proposed that we should "unship the awning."
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
He turned his back deliberately and walked to his own awning.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
And, indeed, patches of darkness had for a moment been passing above the awning of the roof.
His MasterpieceEmile Zola
Outside on the poop-deck he found Asad alone now with Marzak under the awning.
The Sea-HawkRaphael Sabatini
awning
- a roof of canvas or other material supported by a frame to provide protection from the weather, esp one placed over a doorway or part of a deck of a ship
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Word Origin
C17: of uncertain origin
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
Word Origin and History for awning
n.
1624, origin uncertain (first recorded use is by Capt. John Smith), perhaps from Middle French auvans, plural of auvent "a sloping roof," "itself of doubtful etym[ology]" (OED). A nautical term only until sense of "cover for windows or porch" emerged 1852.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper