faun

[ fawn ]

noun

, Classical 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.

faun

/ fɔːn /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˈfaunˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• faunlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of faun¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of faun¹

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

Example Sentences

Erin BergerIn the 18th century—the early years of the conquest of North American forests—a faun and his human brother sow what’s now Ohio with apple seeds.

From Outside Online

Soon after their arrival, Ofelia meets a fairy, who takes her to the titular labyrinth and introduces her to a faun, who in turn convinces her that she is in fact a princess named Moanna.

From Time

He was Mr. Tumnus, the delightful faun, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

From The Daily Beast

We hope our film Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq illuminates the exceptional qualities of Tanny in dance and in life.

From The Daily Beast

Jerome Robbins, also at NYCB, did the same, and she inspired him to create his radical Afternoon of the Faun for her.

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

He should go naked as a faun; such things roamed about the primeval woods seeking what they might devour.

From Project Gutenberg

Mamise was amazed to find that the strenuous business man had so much of the faun in his soul.

From Project Gutenberg

Dunstan, the charmed faun look in his eyes, prone at Minga's feet.

From Project Gutenberg

The house of the Faun at Pompeii, which is the most richly paved of all, was a museum of mosaics.

From Project Gutenberg