sable vs tawny

sable

noun
  • A dark brown colour, resembling the fur of some sables. 

  • Black garments, especially worn in mourning. 

  • The sablefish. 

  • An artist's brush made from the fur of the sable (Wikipedia). 

  • The fur or pelt of the sable or other species of martens; a coat made from this fur. 

  • A small carnivorous mammal of the Old World that resembles a weasel, Martes zibellina, from cold regions in Eurasia and the North Pacific islands, valued for its dark brown fur (Wikipedia). 

  • The marten, especially Martes americana (syn. Mustela americana). 

  • A black colour on a coat of arms (Wikipedia). 

adj
  • Of the black colour sable. 

  • Dark, somber. 

  • Made of sable fur. 

  • In blazon, of the colour black. 

tawny

noun
  • A light brown to brownish orange colour. 

  • Synonym of tenné (“a rarely-used tincture of orange or bright brown”) 

  • In full tawny port: a sweet, fortified port wine which is blended and matured in wooden casks. 

  • Tawny owl. 

  • Tawny frogmouth. 

  • The common bullfinch or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula). 

  • Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name). 

adj
  • Of a light brown to brownish orange colour. 

verb
  • To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn. 

  • To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn. 

How often have the words sable and tawny occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )