faun

[ fawn ]

/ fɔn /

noun Classical Mythology.

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

Nearby words

Origin of faun

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

Related formsfaun·like, adjective

Can be confusedfaun fawn

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

Examples from the Web for faun

We hope our film Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq illuminates the exceptional qualities of Tanny in dance and in life.
The Tragic Downfall of Tanaquil Le Clercq, Ballet’s Greatest Muse|Nancy Buirski|February 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Jerome Robbins, also at NYCB, did the same, and she inspired him to create his radical Afternoon of the Faun for her.
The Tragic Downfall of Tanaquil Le Clercq, Ballet’s Greatest Muse|Nancy Buirski|February 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The palette was gentle and pretty, focusing on rose pinks, lavenders, dusky mauve, mint, faun and pale lemon.
Burberry Prorsum Spring/ Summer 2014|Tom Sykes|September 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
From my study window I could see the sunlit figure of the Faun, sitting before the beech copse as a man sits before his house.
The Celestial Omnibus and other Stories|E. M. Forster

He chose for his model an ancient figure of a faun, which was somewhat mutilated.
Strange Stories from History for Young People|George Cary Eggleston
Mr. Knoblauch's The Faun is a romantic fantasia, but is not without its keen social satire.
How to See a Play|Richard Burton
The man addressed was handsome as a faun might be and as a tiger is.
Olive in Italy|Moray Dalton
In his step was the fine free swing of the hillman, and the young woman breasted the slope lightly as a faun.
The Highgrader|William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for faun

faun

/ (fɔːn) /

noun

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

Derived Formsfaunlike, adjective

Word Origin for faun

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

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 faun

faun

late 14c., from Latin Faunus, a word of unknown origin. A god of the countryside, worshipped especially by farmers and shepherds, equivalent of Greek Pan. Formerly men with goat horns and tails, later with goat legs, which caused them to be assimilated to satyrs, but they have diverged again lately.

The faun is now regarded rather as the type of unsophisticated & the satyr of unpurified man; the first is man still in intimate communion with Nature, the second is man still swayed by bestial passions. [Fowler]

The plural is fauni.