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Origin and history of fawning

fawning(adj.)

"cringing, servile," mid-14c., present-participle adjective from fawn (v.). Related: Fawningly.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to fawning

fawn(v.)

Middle English faunen, from Old English fagnian "rejoice, be glad, exult, applaud," from fægen "glad" (see fain); used in Middle English to refer to expressions of delight, especially a dog wagging its tail (early 14c.), hence "court favor, grovel, act slavishly" (early 15c.). Related: Fawned; fawning.

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    Trends of fawning

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    obsequious
    late 15c., "prompt to serve, meekly compliant with the will or wishes of another, dutiful," from Latin obsequiosus "compliant, obedient," from obsequium "compliance, dutiful service," from obsequi "to accommodate oneself to the will of another," from ob "after" (see ob-) + sequi
    adulation
    "servile or insincere praise," late 14c., from Old French adulacion, from Latin adulationem (nominative adulatio) "a fawning...The original notion would be "to wag the tail" like a fawning dog (compare Greek sainein "to wag the tail," also "to flatter...
    spaniel
    The disparaging figurative sense of "mean, cringing, fawning person" is by 1590s, in reference to the animal's docile and...
    manly
    been gathered the highest conceptions of what is noble in man or worthy of his manhood, especially as opposed to which is fawning...
    servile
    By mid-15c. as "of the rank of a servant; of or pertaining to servants;" the sense of "cringing, fawning, mean-spirited,...
    sleek
    The figurative meaning in reference to persons or personalities, "slick, fawning, flattering," is from 1590s....
    flatter
    flat the notion could be either "caress with the flat of the hand, stroke, pet," or "throw oneself flat on the ground" (in fawning...
    truckle
    "small wheel or roller," late 14c., from Anglo-French trocle, from Latin trochlea "a small wheel, sheaf of a pulley," from Greek trokhileia "a system of pulleys," from trokhos "wheel," from trekhein "to run," from PIE root *dhregh- "to run" (source also of Old Irish droch "wheel,
    crepe
    1797, "crape-like fabric," especially white or colored, not the ordinary black for mourning, from French crêpe, Old French crespe "ruff, ruffle, frill" (14c.), from Latin crispa, fem. of crispus "curled, wrinkled, having curly hair," from PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend." Crep
    blandish
    mid-14c., "to flatter," from Old French blandiss-, present-participle stem of blandir "to flatter, caress," from Latin blandiri "flatter, soothe, caress, coax," from blandus "smooth-talking, flattering, alluring," perhaps from PIE root *mel- (1) "soft." OED reports it rare in 17c

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    Dictionary entries near fawning
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