Etymograph

English

fawn

Fawn comes from Old French faon, from Vulgar Latin *fētōnem ‘young animal’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfētus‘offspring, young’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fētōnem‘young animal’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400faon
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fawne
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1601fawn

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfētus‘offspring, young’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fētōnem‘young animal’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400faon
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fawne
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1601fawn

Earliest quotation: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., (please specify |book=I to XXXVII): “she [the tigress] rageth upon the shore and the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’

female, feminist, feminism, doe, tyre, felicity, dai, femme, femininity, effeminate, filial, fellatio, fecundity, dahi, 30 more

through Latin fētus ‘offspring, young’

fetus, effete, 2 more

Another origin of fawn

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘joyful’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faganaz‘glad’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faganōną‘to be glad, rejoice’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faginōn‘to be glad, rejoice’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fæġnian‘to celebrate’
  6. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fagnianalternative form of fæġnian
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fawnen‘to fawn’
  8. Englishtodayfawn

Today it means

noun A young deer.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- / fawn

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