roan

[ rohn ]

adjective

1. (chiefly of horses) of the color sorrel, chestnut, or bay, sprinkled with gray or white.
2. prepared from leather of this color.

noun

1. a horse or other animal with a roan coat.
2. a roan color.
3. a soft, flexible sheepskin leather, used in bookbinding, often made to imitate morocco.

roan

/ rəʊn /

adjective

1. (of a horse) having a bay ( red roan ), chestnut ( strawberry roan ), or black ( blue roan ) coat sprinkled with white hairs

noun

1. a horse having such a coat
2. a soft unsplit sheepskin leather with a close tough grain, used in bookbinding, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of roan¹

1520–30; < Middle French < Old Spanish roano < Germanic; compare Gothic rauths red

Word History and Origins

Origin of roan¹

C16: from Old French, from Spanish roano , probably from Gothic rauths red

Example Sentences

At Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab, I rode a big, red roan horse named Little Joe on a three-hour trail ride through the valley where the 1950 movie “Rio Grande” was filmed.

From Washington Post

The roan whickered and bent her neck, nuzzling her master.

From Literature

Gray or roan horses are 0 for their last 31 in the Derby; Essential Quality and Soup and Sandwich will aim to snap that drought.

From Seattle Times

One safari outfitter from Africa was offering a $25,000 “Trump Special,” inviting hunters to “make your own drone strike” by shooting a buffalo, sable, roan antelope and crocodile in a single trip.

From Fox News

“And this here’s my daddy,” he said, smiling at a little old man who came around the house leading a big roan horse that was saddled up.

From Literature