dun

[duhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dun ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), dunned, dun·ning.

to make repeated and insistent demands upon, especially for the payment of a debt.

noun

a person, especially a creditor, who duns another.

a demand for payment, especially a written one.

Origin of dun

First recorded in 1620–30; origin obscure

dun

[duhn]

adjective

dull, grayish brown.

dark; gloomy.

noun

a dun color.

a dun-colored horse with a black mane and tail.

mayfly.

Angling. dun fly.

Origin of dun

before 1000; Middle English dun(ne), Old English dunn; cognate with Old Saxon dun

Related formsdun·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dun

dim, stormy, misty, muddy, dreary, cloudy, nebulous, dark, dismal, dirty, foggy, fuzzy, murky, shadowy, overcast, somber, dingy, gloomy, black, drab

Examples from the Web for dun

Contemporary Examples of dun

The challenge was set by HSBC, sponsors of the Open Championship, and filmed at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Dublin.
Padraig Harrington's Hole-In-One, Blindfolded
Tom Sykes
July 15, 2014
Cognizant, headquartered in New Jersey, grew out of a partnership between Dun & Bradstreet and an Indian firm.
Legal Outsourcing Within the United States
Ilana Glazer
April 1, 2013
And the insurance fund run by the FDIC is replenishing itself without having to dun taxpayers.
Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair Dishes (Video)
Daniel Gross
October 1, 2012

Historical Examples of dun

I dun'no' whether he is married or not, but there is a woman livin' there.
Quaint Courtships
Various
The three distinguished characters were a spendthrift, a bailiff, and a dun.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
"Da-da-dat is, er—I spec' so—er—I dun'no', ma'm," he stammered.
Southern Lights and Shadows
Various
Flame-colour is a mixture of auburn and dun; dun of white and black; yellow of white and auburn.
Timaeus
Plato
I made sure he was going to dun, and that I should have to shuffle.
The Harmsworth Magazine, v. 1, 1898-1899, No. 2
Various

British Dictionary definitions for dun

dun

verb duns, dunning or dunned

(tr) to press or importune (a debtor) for the payment of a debt

noun

a person, esp a hired agent, who importunes another for the payment of a debt

a demand for payment, esp one in writing

Word Origin for dun

C17: of unknown origin

dun

noun

a brownish-grey colour

a horse of this colour

angling

an immature adult mayfly (the subimago), esp one of the genus Ephemera
an artificial fly imitating this or a similar fly

adjective dunner or dunnest

of a dun colour

dark and gloomy

Word Origin for dun

Old English dunn; related to Old Norse dunna wild duck, Middle Irish doun dark; see dusk

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 dun

"to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, perhaps related to dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din" (c.1200, dialectal variant of din), or shortened from dunkirk (c.1600) "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk, French port from which they sailed. The oldest theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters. Related: Dunned; dunning. As a noun from 1620s.

adj.

Old English dunn "dingy brown, dark-colored," perhaps from Celtic (cf. Old Irish donn "dark;" Gaelic donn "brown, dark;" Welsh dwnn "brownish"), from PIE *donnos, *dusnos "dark."