russet vs tawny

russet

noun
  • A reddish-brown color. 

  • A variety of apple with rough, russet-colored skin. 

  • A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric; clothes made with such fabric. 

  • A variety of potato with rough, dark gray-brown skin. 

verb
  • To develop reddish-brown spots; to cause russeting. 

adj
  • The condition of leather when its treatment is complete, but it is not yet colored (stained) and polished. 

  • Rustic, homespun, coarse, plain. 

  • Having a rough skin that is reddish-brown or greyish; russeted. 

  • Having a reddish-brown color. 

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 russet and tawny occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )