Faun and Fawn are both nouns (fawn can also be a verb) and have a common root but different meanings. They both come from the Latin fetus, meaning “offspring”—a word for children of any species, emphasizing their origins in birth. This connection is more clear for fawn than faun.
A fawn is a baby deer. And a faun is a nature spirit or god—with the lower body of a goat, and goat’s ears and horns, but the upper body of a human. Fauns are also known as satyrs, and have a reputation for being mischievous, lustful, and childlike, and are associated with human reproduction and the Spring season.
Fawn (the baby deer) is also a common verb, with two meanings. Originally it meant, “to give birth to a fawn and take care of it” (for deer). But its main meaning now is “to try to get someone’s affection by serving them, flattering them, or trying to make them happy.” The verb fawn is a slightly negative word, implying behavior that is too solicitous—paying too much positive attention to someone, in a perhaps embarrassing way:
It was disgusting the way the men fawned all over the woman in the red dress at the party.
Fawn is commonly paired with the word over to form the phrasal verb, fawn over.
More Examples of How to Use “Fawn” in a Sentence
- The dog fawned on its master.
- Fawning fans surrounded LeBron James near the team bus.
- I refused to fawn over her or flatter her just to get a promotion—she’s a horrible boss!
- Sarah feels neglected because her boyfriend does not fawn on her as he used to when they first started dating.