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definitions

taupe

[ tohp ]
/ toʊp /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR taupe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a moderate to dark brownish gray, sometimes slightly tinged with purple, yellow, or green.

RELATED WORDS

tan, cream, khaki, camel, off-white, fawn, mushroom, neutral, oatmeal, ecru, buff, biscuit, sand

Nearby words

  1. taunton,
  2. taunton deane,
  3. taunus mountains,
  4. tauon,
  5. taupata,
  6. taupo,
  7. taupo, lake,
  8. taur-,
  9. tauranga,
  10. tauri-

Origin of taupe

1910–15; < French < Latin talpa mole
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for taupe

  • 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

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

    The Art of Interior Decoration|Grace Wood

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

    Jamaican Song and Story|Walter Jekyll

British Dictionary definitions for taupe

taupe

/ (təʊp) /

noun

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

Word Origin for taupe

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

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."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper