Tan Definition

tăn
tanned, tanner, tannest, tanning, tans
verb
tanned, tanning, tans
To become tanned.
Webster's New World
To convert (an animal hide) into leather by subjecting it to a chemical process that stabilizes the proteins, making it less susceptible to decay.
American Heritage
To change (hide) into leather by soaking in tannin.
Webster's New World
To make (a person or a person's skin) darker by exposure to the sun.
American Heritage
To whip severely; flog.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
noun
tans

Tanbark.

Webster's New World
A suntan.
American Heritage
A yellowish-brown color.
Webster's New World
Tanbark.
American Heritage
Tannin or a solution made from it, used to tan leather.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adjective
tanner, tannest
Yellowish-brown; tawny.
Webster's New World
Having a suntan.
American Heritage
Used in or relating to tanning.
American Heritage
Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun.
You're looking very tan this week.
Wiktionary
abbreviation
Tangent.
Webster's New World
pronoun

(Irish mythology) The lover of Midir whose rejected first wife Fuamnach became jealous and cast three spells on her, turning her into a pool of water, then into a worm, and then into a fly.

Wiktionary
idiom
tan someone's hide
  • to flog someone severely
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Tan

Noun

Singular:
tan
Plural:
tans

Adjective

Base Form:
tan
Superlative:
tannest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Tan

Origin of Tan

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

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English tannen from Old English tannian from Medieval Latin tannāre from tannum tanbark probably of Celtic origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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

    From Wiktionary

Tan Sentence Examples

  • Her hair sparkled in the sunlight against the dark tan of his hand.

  • The prevailing colour is tan with large black spots.

  • This light railway runs at a considerable elevation (some 700 ft.), commanding a view across the valley and lake of Tan y Bwlch.

  • His pupils were contracted by the bright sunlight and his light green eyes contrasted sharply with his bronze tan.

  • As he spoke, he peeled off his shirt to reveal a whip-like, muscular upper body coated by a thin layer of tan skin.

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Words Starting With

TTATAN

Words Ending With

NANTAN

Unscrambles

tan

Words Starting With T and Ending With N

Starts With T & Ends With NStarts With TA & Ends With NStarts With T & Ends With AN

Word Length

3 Letter Words3 Letter Words Starting With T3 Letter Words Ending With N