different between tawny vs ruddy

English

Etymology

From Middle English tawne, from Anglo-Norman tawné, from Old French tané, past participle of taner (“to tan”), from tan (“tanbark, tawny color”), from Gaulish tanno (“holm oak”), from Proto-Celtic *tanno- (“green oak”), of uncertain further origin. Compare Breton tann, Old Irish caerthann (“rowan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t??ni/
• Rhymes: -??ni

Adjective

tawny (comparative tawnier, superlative tawniest)

1. Of a light brown to brownish orange color.
   • 1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, Chapter I. "The Shipwreck", page 14:

     There were the tawny rocks, like lions couchant, defying the ocean, whose waves incessantly dashed against and scoured them with vast quantities of gravel.

   • 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:

     He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
     And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
     When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
     A red-coat troop came marching—
     Marching—marching—
     King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:

     They fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted walls.

2. A sweet, fortified wine which is blended and matured in wood.

Synonyms

• fulvous

Related terms

• tan

Translations

Noun

tawny

1. A light brown to brownish orange colour.

Derived terms

• tawny owl
• tawny port

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Wyant, wanty

English

Etymology

From Middle English ruddy, rody, rudi, from Old English rudi? (“reddish; ruddy”), from rudu (“redness”), equivalent to rud (“redness”) +? -y. Compare Icelandic roði (“redness”).

The British slang sense expressing irritation is presumably a euphemism for bloody.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /???di/
• Rhymes: -?di

Adjective

ruddy (comparative ruddier, superlative ruddiest)

1. Reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky.
2. (Britain, Australia, slang, not comparable) A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.

Synonyms

• (reddish in color): rosy
• (intensifier): bally, bleeding, blimming, bloody, blooming
• See also Thesaurus:damned

Derived terms

• rudden (to become ruddy)

Translations

Adverb

ruddy (not comparable)

1. (Britain, slang) A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.

Noun

ruddy (plural ruddies)

1. (informal) A ruddy duck.
2. (informal) A ruddy ground dove.
   • 1987, Jürgen Nicolai, A Complete Introduction to Finches, Tfh Publications Incorporated (?ISBN), page 89:

     Ground doves — two ruddies are shown here — are so called because they feed on the ground.

   • 1994, Birding, page 298:

     Understandably, birders in the U.S. are advised to carefully distinguish Ruddies from the usually more-expected Common Ground-Doves [...]. (Brightly-colored, pinkish adult male Common Ground-Doves have been misidentified as male Ruddies on several occasions, however.) Unless the fortunate birder happens upon a Ruddy Ground-Dove amongst a flock of sparrows, it will often be necessary to sort through innumerable Inca Doves.

   • 2005, Richard Cachor Taylor, A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona, page 237:

     Common Ground-Dove — Fairly common permanent resident of better-watered valleys at lower elevations. Avoids town [...] Ironically, Ruddies often ignore the little flocks of closely related Commons, and choose to associate with Inca Doves.

   • 2008, Jim Burns, Jim Burns' Arizona Birds: From the Backyard to the Backwoods, University of Arizona Press (?ISBN), page 28:

     Out-of-state birders seeking Ruddy Ground Doves should be aware of two things. Ruddies associate much more frequently with Inca Doves than with Common Ground Doves. In fact, in eleven personal sightings of this species in Arizona, I have never seen a Ruddy with a Common nor has anyone else I know. [...] Perhaps this is a slow invasion, and forty years hence Ruddies will be so common ...

Verb

ruddy (third-person singular simple present ruddies, present participle ruddying, simple past and past participle ruddied)

1. (transitive) To make reddish in colour.

See also

• (reds) red; blood red, brick red, burgundy, cardinal, carmine, carnation, cerise, cherry, cherry red, Chinese red, cinnabar, claret, crimson, damask, fire brick, fire engine red, flame, flamingo, fuchsia, garnet, geranium, gules, hot pink, incarnadine, Indian red, magenta, maroon, misty rose, nacarat, oxblood, pillar-box red, pink, Pompeian red, poppy, raspberry, red violet, rose, rouge, ruby, ruddy, salmon, sanguine, scarlet, shocking pink, stammel, strawberry, Turkey red, Venetian red, vermillion, vinaceous, vinous, violet red, wine ^{(Category: en:Reds)}