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tan

UK/t˭än/ US/tæn/ fairly common informal slang
noun (3) adjective (1) verb (2)

noun

1.

a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun

Synonyms
2.

a light brown

Synonyms
3.

ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle

Synonyms

adjective

1.

of a light yellowish-brown color

Similar

verb

1.

treat skins and hides with tannic acid so as to convert them into leather

2.

get a tan, from wind or sun

Synonyms

Origin

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 (“woods”), Tanne (“fir”), Albanian thanë (“cranberry bush”), Ancient Greek θάμνος (thámnos, “thicket”), Avestan 𐬚𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 (θanuuar^ə), Sanskrit धनु (dhánu).

Phrases

  • black and tan
  • catch a tan
  • fake tan
  • farmer's tan
  • flowers of tan
  • gyle tan
  • spray tan
  • tan balls
  • tan bed
  • tan out
  • tan someone's hide
  • TAN syndrome

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.