Forms: 4 faghne, fayn, 4–7 fawne, 4, 6–8 faun(e, (4 fauhne), 5 fawnyn, 6 Sc. 9 dial. fan, 5– fawn. See also FAIN v. [app. a variant, with specialized sense, of FAIN v. to rejoice. The OE. forms fæȝnian and fahnian (whence respectively fain and fawn) are derived from different forms of the adj., viz. OE. fæȝen, whence fain adj., and OE. faþen, whence ME. fawe.
Prof. Sievers suggests that the divergent forms are due to suffix-ablaut (-in, -an, -un) in primitive OE.]
1. intr. Of an animal, esp. a dog: To show delight or fondness (by wagging the tail, whining, etc.) as a dog does.
a. 1225. [see FAWNING vbl. sb. 1.]
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 295.
| Þere ne was lyoun ne leopart … | |
| Þat ne fel to her feet · and fauned with þe tallies. |
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. iv. (1495), 751. A lambe … fawnyth wyth hys taylle whan he hath founde his moder.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 152/1. Fawnyn as howndys, applaudo.
1593. Shaks., The Rape of Lucrece, 421.
| As the grim Lion fawneth ore his pray, | |
| Sharpe hunger by the conquest satisfied: | |
| So ore this sleeping soule doth Tarquin stay, | |
| His rage of lust by gazing qualified. |
1611. Dekker, Roaring Girle, Wks. 1873, III. 215. He hath bene brought vp in the Ile of dogges, and can both fawne like a Spaniell, and bite like a Mastiue, as hee finds occasion.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 526.
| But as in gaze admiring: Oft he bowd | |
| His turret Crest, and sleek enamel’d Neck, | |
| Fawning and lick’d the ground whereon she trod. |
1675. Hobbes, Odyssey (1677), 209.
| There lay the old Dog Argus full of Fleas. | |
| And as Ulysses near was couch’d his ears | |
| And fauned with his tail, but could not rise. |
1791. Cowper, Odyssey, XVI. 11.
| Thy dogs bark not, but fawn on his approach | |
| Obsequious, and the sound of feet I hear. |
1865. Swinburne, Poems & Ball., Satia te Sanguine, 54.
| As a tame beast writhes and wheedles, | |
| He fawns to be fed with wiles; | |
| You carve him a cross of needles, | |
| And whet them sharp as your smiles. |
b. To fawn on, upon: (of a dog, etc.) to show delight at the presence of; to lavish caresses on, to caress.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 41. I barke upon the fooles and fawne upon the wysemen.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet. (1580), 196. The Lion … fauned gently upon hym.
a. 1605. Montgomerie, Descr. Vane Lovers, 42. A Dog … will … fan on him vha givis him fude.
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 193. I wondered to see her [a Deere] so gently fawne upon me without any feare.
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., I. ii. A puppy fawns upon its dam.
1841. Lane, Arab. Nts., I. 49. The calf … came to me, and fawned upon me.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf. iii. (1889), 28. Joe stopped to caress Jack [the dog], who was fawning on him as if he understood every word.
fig. 1573. Tusser, Husb., cxiv. (1878), 216. Though Fortune smiles, and fawnes vpon thy side.
1600. Holland, Livy, IV. xlii. (1609), 166. It was no long time that fortune fawned upon the Æquians.
1796. Burke, Lett. noble Ld., Wks. 1842, II. 271. In the same moment fawning on those who have the knife half out of the sheath.
† c. quasi-trans. To wag (the tail). Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12354 (Cott.).
| Þas oþer leons … | |
| Honurd him faunand þair tail. |
† 2. trans. = To fawn on (sense 1 b): To caress; to pat (the head of a dog). Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12333, heading (Gött.). Hu þe leonis fauned iesus.
c. 1340. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1919.
| Hor houndez þay þer rewarde, | |
| Her hedez þay fawne & frote. |
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, Eufemia, 183. & faynand hir þare talis knet.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 294/4. They ranne to this hooly vyrgyne in fawnynge her.
3. intr. To affect a servile fondness; to court favour or notice by an abject demeanour. Const. on, upon (a person, his looks, etc.).
a. 1310. [see FAWNING vbl. sb. 2.]
c. 1440. Lydg., Secrees, Prol., 675.
| Smothe, afore folk to fawnyn and to shyne, | |
| And shewe two facys in Oon hood. |
c. 1510. More, Life of John Picus, Wks. 16/1. If the worlde fawne vpon the.
1576. A. Fleming, A Panoplie of Epistles, 171. Some, and of them not a fewe, make more accompt of such as fawne on them with flatterie, then of those that affirme the manifest veritie.
1577. trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 225/1.
| By fawning on his angrie lookes she turnes them into smiles, | |
| And keeps her husbands secrets close, when friends worke wilie guiles. |
1612. T. Taylor, Comm. Titus iii. 3. Nor further fawned [they] vpon God then to get out of his hands.
1692. E. Walker, Epictetus’ Mor., xxxi.
| But how can you, that neither cringe nor bow, | |
| Nor other Antick Spaniel tricks do shew, | |
| Nor flatter, fawn, forswear, assent, or lye, | |
| Nor use that servile Knavish industry, | |
| By which base supple Slaves their ends obtain, | |
| The same respect, or the same favour gain? |
1823. Lamb, Lett. (1888), II. 62. B., who first engaged me as ‘Elia,’ has not paid me up yet (nor any of us without repeated mortifying appeals), yet how the knave fawned when I was of service to him!
1857. Buckle, Civiliz., I. vii. 398. Even our greatest writers prostituted their abilities by fawning upon the prejudices of their patrons.
1865. Kingsley, Herew. (1866), I. x. 230. Your knights here, who fawn on a damsel with soft words in the hall.
1879. Dixon, Windsor, I. xii. 118. Not until the barons were at Bedford, with their front towards London, had he stooped to fawn where he was used to smite.
† b. To fawn upon (a thing, an object of desire): to aspire to. Obs. rare–1.
1634. Ford, P. Warbeck, V. i.
| Could I be England’s queen,—a glory, Jane, | |
| I never fawn’d on. |
† 4. trans. To cringe to (a person). Obs. rare.
a. 1568. Ascham, Scholem. (Arb.), 83. Though, for their priuate matters they can follow, fawne, and flatter noble Personages.
