fulvous

adjective

ful·​vous ˈfu̇l-vəs 

ˈfəl-

: of a dull brownish yellow : tawny

Did you know?

Fulvous has never been a common word. You are most likely to encounter it in texts from the 19th century—unless, that is, you care about ducks. In that case, you might know about a kind of whistling-duck called the fulvous tree duck, which is a brownish duck with long legs and a long neck and an unusual world distribution. It lives in isolated populations in North America, South America, India, and Africa—remarkably without geographic variation. But back to fulvous: it shares a meaning with its direct ancestor, the Latin word fulvus, and fulvus itself is believed to possibly share an ancestor with flavus, Latin for "yellow."

Examples of fulvous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Few hunters target black-bellies or fulvous specifically. —M.d. Johnson, Field & Stream, 10 Jan. 2024

Appearance and Vocalization The U.S. is home to two types of whistling ducks: the black-bellied whistling duck and the fulvous whistling duck, commonly called the fulvous tree duck. —M.d. Johnson, Field & Stream, 10 Jan. 2024

However, the fulvous sports a bluish-grey bill and legs. —M.d. Johnson, Field & Stream, 10 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin fulvus; perhaps akin to Latin flavus yellow — more at blue

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined above

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