Word of the Day

: June 16, 2013

fawn

verb FAWN

What It Means

1 : to show affection - used especially of a dog

2 : to court favor by a cringing or flattering manner

fawn in Context

The author gave a reading from her latest book, followed by a meet and greet where she was fawned over by adoring fans.

"The trip was relaxing, and Lauren was right. I was like a different person, probably because I didn't have deadlines looming over me, the pressures of running a household, no hour-long commute and my parents fawned over me like I was royalty." - From a blog post by Jessica Ryen Doyle on FoxNews.com, May 3, 2013

Did You Know?

Some people will be glad to learn the origins of "fawn"-and there's a hint about the word's etymology in that declaration. Middle English speakers adapted an Old English word meaning "to rejoice" to create the verb "faunen," which shifted in spelling over time to become "fawn." That Old English word, in turn, derives from "fagan," meaning "glad." "Fagan" is also an ancestor of the English adjective "fain," whose earliest (now obsolete) meaning is "happy" or "pleased." If we follow the etymological path of "fawn" even further back, we arrive at an ancient word that also provided Old German and Old Norse with words for "happy."