• Tan

    Pronunciation

    • US IPA: /tæn/

    Origin 1

    From French tan ("tanbark"), from Gaulish tanno ("live oak") (compare Breton tann ("red oak"), Old Cornish tannen), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰonu ("fir") (compare Hittite (tanau, "fir"), Latin femur, genitive feminis ("thigh"), German Tann ("woods"), Tanne ("fir"), Albanian thanë ("cranberry bush"), Ancient Greek θάμνος (thamnos, "thicket"), Avestan (θanwarə), geitive (θanwanō, "bow"), Sanskrit धनुस्, genitive (dhánvanus, "bow")). Verb from Middle English tannen, from late Old English tannian ("to tan a hide"), from Anglo-Norman tanner, from tan.

    Full definition of tan

    Noun

    tan

    (plural tans)
    1. A yellowish-brown colour.
    2. A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.She still has a tan from her vacation in Mexico.
    3. The bark of an oak or other tree from which tannic acid is obtained.
      • 1848, John Hannett, Bibliopegia, or, The Art of Bookbinding in all its branches, page 65:In two pints of water boil one ounce of tan, and a like portion of nutgall till reduced to a pint.

    Derived terms

    Adjective

    tan

    1. Of a yellowish-brown.Mine is the white car parked next to the tan pickup truck.
    2. Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun.You’re looking very tan this week.

    Verb

    1. (intransitive) To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun.No matter how long I stay out in the sun, I never tan. though I do burn.
    2. (transitive) To change an animal hide into leather by soaking it in tannic acid.See Tanning. To work as a tanner.
    3. (transitive, informal) To spank or beat.
      • 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, ch. 3:"Well, go 'long and play; but mind you get back some time in a week, or I'll tan you."

    Related terms

    Origin 2

    From a Brythonic language; influenced in form by yan ("one") in the same series.

    Numeral

    numeral

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

    Origin 3

    Noun

    tan

    1. picul (Asian unit of weight)

    Anagrams

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