taupe

English

WOTD – 25 September 2008

Etymology

Borrowed from French taupe, from Latin talpa (“mole”). Doublet of talpa.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /təʊp/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /toʊp/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊp

Noun

taupe (countable and uncountable, plural taupes)

1. A dark brownish-grey colour, the colour of moleskin.

   taupe:  

Translations

a dark brownish-gray colour

• Bulgarian: тъмносив (като къртица) (tǎmnosiv (kato kǎrtica))
• Estonian: pruunikashall
• Finnish: ruskeanharmaa
• German: braungrau, maulwurfsgrau
• Hungarian: tób, tóp
• Spanish: talpa (es), pardo (es) m

Adjective

taupe (comparative more taupe, superlative most taupe)

1. Of a dark brownish-grey colour.
   • November 1915, Ben Hecht, “Life”, in The Little Review:

     At five o'clock the patch of daylight above the red-lighted exit door turned taupe, as though a gray curtain had been flung across it; […]

   • February 1952, Wallace Earle Stegner, “Pop Goes the Alley Cat”, in Harper's Magazine:

     In the front room, on an old taupe overstuffed sofa, the head of the house lay in a blanket bathrobe, […]

Translations

of a dark brownish-gray colour

• Czech: hnědošedý
• Estonian: pruunikashall
• Finnish: ruskeanharmaa
• German: maulwurfgrau, taupe (de)
• Italian: topato
• Spanish: pardo (es)

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Anagrams

• ate up, eat up

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French taupe, inherited from Latin talpa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /top/

• audio (CA)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

taupe f (plural taupes)

1. mole (burrowing mammal)
2. (figurative) (espionage) mole (undercover agent)
3. tunneler
4. (education) higher mathematics class

Derived terms

• myope comme une taupe
• taupe-grillon
• taupicide
• taupier
• taupière
• taupinière

 

Adjective

taupe (plural taupes)

1. taupe

Further reading

• “taupe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French taupe, from Latin talpa.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Noun

taupe f (plural taupes)

1. (Jersey) mole (mammal)

Synonyms

• taupîn

Old French

Etymology

From Latin talpa.

Noun

taupe f (oblique plural taupes, nominative singular taupe, nominative plural taupes)

1. mole (mammal)

Descendants

• French: taupe
• Norman: taupe (Jersey)

Tocharian B

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

taupe m

1. mine (place from which ore is extracted)