faun

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   In Roman myth, a woodland spirit with a man's body and a goat's legs, horns and tail.

   Grammar: Count it normally: a faun, two fauns.

   Patterns

   • a faun in the forest

   In the story, a faun leads the girl through the snowy wood.

   The statue shows a faun playing a set of reed pipes.

   The painter imagined a faun dancing in the clearing.

2. 2nouncountableliteraryrare

   A playful, wild person with nature-loving habits, compared to the mythical creature.

   Grammar: Used figuratively and rarely, usually in literary description.

   The poet described the boy as a faun, quick and shy among the trees.

   She had a faun-like grace as she ran through the meadow.

   The actor played the faun with sly charm.

Word forms

Common combinations

mythical faun

The mythical faun appears in many Roman poems.

faun and nymph

The fresco shows a faun and a nymph beside a stream.

playful faun

A playful faun stole the shepherd's flute.

statue of a faun

A statue of a faun stood at the garden entrance.

Synonyms and how they differ

satyr

A satyr comes from Greek myth and is usually wilder and more bawdy than the gentler Roman faun.

Pan

Pan is a specific Greek god of shepherds, not a general type of creature like a faun.

sprite

A sprite is a small, light spirit of nature with no goat features, so it is broader than faun.

Word family

fauna noun

the animals of a particular region or period

Faunus proper noun

the Roman god of woods and fields, after whom fauns are named

faunal adjective

relating to the animals of a region

Commonly confused: faun or fawn? faun or fauna?

Practice

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