roan

American  

[rohn] / roʊn /

adjective

1. (chiefly of horses) of the color sorrel, chestnut, or bay, sprinkled with gray or white.

2. prepared from leather of this color.

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noun

1. a horse or other animal with a roan coat.

2. a roan color.

3. a soft, flexible sheepskin leather, used in bookbinding, often made to imitate morocco.

roan British  

/ rəʊn /

adjective

1. (of a horse) having a bay ( red roan ), chestnut ( strawberry roan ), or black ( blue roan ) coat sprinkled with white hairs

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noun

1. a horse having such a coat

2. a soft unsplit sheepskin leather with a close tough grain, used in bookbinding, etc

Etymology

Origin of roan

1520–30; < Middle French < Old Spanish roano < Germanic; compare Gothic rauths red

Example Sentences

Plenty of gray and roan horses have fared well over the years, including Kentucky Derby winners like Spectacular Bid in 1979, Winning Colors in 1988 and Silver Charm in 1997.

From New York Times • May 16, 2022

At Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab, I rode a big, red roan horse named Little Joe on a three-hour trail ride through the valley where the 1950 movie “Rio Grande” was filmed.

From Washington Post • Aug. 26, 2021

Gray or roan horses are 0 for their last 31 in the Derby; Essential Quality and Soup and Sandwich will aim to snap that drought.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 30, 2021

He called the servant man to go, Saddled the dappled roan, And he rode to her father’s house that night, Knocked on the door alone.

From The New Yorker • May 13, 2019

Inside the barn, we shed our ponchos and, armed with a curry comb and a dandy brush, each took a horse, Cinders for me, a roan named Clover, in the next stall, for Miss Maggie.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk