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tan

Pronunciation: /tæn/

The English word “tan” has 15 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A light, brown-like colour.
  2. A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.
  3. The bark of an oak or other tree from which tannic acid is obtained.
  4. Synonym of wall ball.
  5. An Armenian drink made of yoghurt and water similar to airan and doogh
  6. Synonym of picul, particularly in Cantonese contexts.
  7. A twig or small switch.

adjective

  1. Yellowish-brown.
  2. Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun or an artificial process intended to mimic this effect.

verb

  1. To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun.
  2. To change an animal hide into leather by soaking it in tannic acid.
  3. To work as a tanner.
  4. To spank or beat.
  5. To kill by gun, to shoot.

numeral

  1. The second cardinal number two, formerly used in Celtic areas, especially Cumbria and parts of Yorkshire, for counting sheep, and stitches in knitting.

Etymology

From Middle English tan, from Old French tan (“tanbark”), from Gaulish *tannos (“green oak”) – compare Breton tann (“red oak”), Old Cornish tannen –, from Proto-Celtic *tannos (“green oak”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)dʰonu (“fir”). Per this hypothesis, related to Hittite [script needed] (tanau, “fir”), Latin femur, genitive feminis (“thigh”), German Tann…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.