Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Roman Mythology Any of a group of rural deities represented as having the body of a man and the horns, ears, tail, and sometimes legs of a goat.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Roman mythology, one of a class of demigods or rural deities, sometimes confounded with satyrs. The form of the fauns was originally human, but with a short goat's tail, pointed ears, and small horns; later they were represented with the hind legs of a goat, thus taking the type of the Greek Pan.
Wiktionary
- n. Roman mythology A woodland creature with pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Rom. Myth.) A god of fields and shipherds, diddering little from the satyr. The fauns are usually represented as half goat and half man.
WordNet 3.0
- n. ancient Italian deity in human shape, with horns, pointed ears and a goat's tail; equivalent to Greek satyr
Etymologies
- From Latin Faunus. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, from Latin Faunus, Faunus. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“(SAY-tuhr) [Roman name faun] A creature in classical mythology who was part man and part goat.”
“If that statue could move like a faun, that is what”
“The laws regulating the geographical distribution of animals, and their combination into distinct zoölogical provinces called faunæ, with definite limits, are very imperfectly understood as yet; but so closely are all things linked together from the beginning that I am convinced we shall never find the clew to their meaning till we carry on our investigations in the past and the present simultaneously.”
Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky
“In the condition of organic life when the supremely predatory creature man rose to domination, the species were grouped in those vast organizations which were of old termed faunæ and floræ, but which are now better known as biological fields or provinces.”
Domesticated Animals Their Relation to Man and to his Advancement in Civilization
“The faun is a natural and delightful link betwixt human and brute life, with something of a divine character intermingled.”
“When Proietto returns to dance with them, his wary, hieratic stance is an instant evocation of Nijinsky as the faun himself.”
“Continuing the classical themes, one sports the head and horns of a faun set in alternating bands of black and deep red.”
“A typical set sees him trotting about like a genteel and very gay faun, throwing out absurdist rants, implausible anecdotes and ludicrous theories.”
“It was the first time he had ever given a reading and his story about a faun seeking his first sexual experience in the woods captivated me.”
“He is not the gentle faun, the Mr. Tumnus, of the Daley machine.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘faun’.
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EN - confusables
Similar words meaning different things
torturous, wreathe, tortuous, wreath, titivate, titillate, stationary, storey, septic, principal, principle, story and 134 more...
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supernatural creatures according to M...
Turned this up on etymonline.com (link). It's amazing.
Hobbit (n.)
1937, coined in the fantasy tales of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973).
On a blank leaf I scrawled: 'In a hole...niss, nisses, thrummy-cap, fairy, whitewoman, nicknevin, sibyl, fates, sprite, gnome, cuttie, scrat and 186 more...
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Phantasmas
Ouroboros, chimera, incubus, cerberus, hippogriff, leviathan, centaur, Jabberwock, numen, snark, sphinx, hippocamp and 26 more...
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Mythical Word List
All words with mythical connotations.
nymph, pixie, elf, elves, wizard, faerie, minotaur, unicorn, wand, witch, sprite, faun and 5 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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thing
apron, lard, clove, camphor, alfalfa, amber, caraway, juniper, kohl, lute, shale, glyph and 142 more...
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the most beautiful
velvet, wainwright, susurrous, nutmeg, pegasus, tintinnabular, gossamer, lyricism, rococo, townlet, prince, nymph and 139 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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theastic's Words
cellar, stalemate, wrought, opal, tyrant, squelch, squab, linen, tartan, paisley, scope, siren and 395 more...
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je les adore!
fusillade, foal, celestial, abattoir, byzantium, berlin, casablanca, babylon, balkans, albion, avalon, between the devil... and 471 more...
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CCW
Commonly Confused Words
wreath, wreathe, titillate, titivate, proscribe, prescribe, pedal, peddle, mettle, metal, palette, palate and 132 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (F)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
faery, fairy cross, fairy ring, falcon, fare-thee-well, farewell-summer, farthing, faun, fawn, felicitous, felicity, fencing and 109 more...
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Fictional beasties
elf, gnome, dwarf, sprite, troll, fairy, nymph, imp, brownie, sasquatch, yeti, wookiee and 574 more...
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tranquill's Words
loquacious, unmitigated, trundle, ephemeral, vociferous, trapezoidal, liminal, obsequious, veracity, squash, onomatopoeia, oscillate and 267 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
Tweets
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