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taupe

[tohp]
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noun
  1. a moderate to dark brownish gray, sometimes slightly tinged with purple, yellow, or green.
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Origin of taupe

1910–15; < French < Latin talpa mole
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for taupe

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The little steamer was feeling her cautious way up a river of dull silver between banks of taupe and mauve.

    Jane Journeys On

    Ruth Comfort Mitchell

  • Her frock was taupe colored, of a soft woolen material, ornamented with many small buttons.

    The Mystery Girl

    Carolyn Wells

  • The bathroom has the walls painted in broad stripes of dull blue and taupe, the stripes being quite six inches wide.

  • The old puzzle sentence, Caille a haut nid, taupe a bas nid, shows this very well.

British Dictionary definitions for taupe

taupe

noun
    1. a brownish-grey colour
    2. (as adjective)a taupe coat
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Word Origin

C20: from French, literally: mole, from Latin talpa
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 taupe

n.

1880s, "a mole," later (1911) "dark brownish-gray color" (the color of moleskin), from French taupe, the color, originally "a mole," from Latin talpa "a mole."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper