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Language lovers, rejoice! If you’re the sort of person who fawns over etymology (one of the best sorts of people, in our opinion), then you’ll be glad to know the story of fawn: it comes ultimately from the Old English adjective fægen or fagan, meaning “glad,” by way of Old English fagnian, meaning “to rejoice.” Hooray! But we’re not finished yet, my dear. Note that this fawn is not, despite appearances, related to the noun fawn that refers to a young deer. For that we can thank the Latin noun fetus, meaning “offspring.”
Synonyms
Examples of fawn in a Sentence
Alan Ohnsman, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
That’s meant eschewing traditional media interviews in favor of fawning long-form podcast conversations with laddish hosts who draw massive young male audiences, such as Theo Von, Lex Friedman, Logan Paul, the Nelk Boys, and Joe Rogan, who boasts the most popular podcast in America.
—Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024
Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
Selfie Love Kerry Washington and Issa Rae fawn over each other at the Forbes Power Women Summit in New York City on Sept. 11.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 12 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Fawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fawn. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fawn
2 of 2 nounVerb
Old English fagnian "to rejoice," from fægen "glad, fain"
Noun
early French feen, foon "young of an animal," derived from Latin fetus "offspring"
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