Arran
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 spider Yorkshire, obsolete
"Sweep'th Arrans down, till all be clean neer lin, Els he'l leauk all Agye when he comes in […]"
- 1 Ellipsis of Isle of Arran, Scotland. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 2 In post-Islamic times, a region of eastern Transcaucasia, lying between the Rivers Kura and Araxes, in what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan and the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, corresponding to the territory of Caucasian Albania on the right bank of the River Kura which was disattached from Greater Armenia in 387 AD. In pre-Islamic times, the term was used for the whole of Caucasian Albania. historical
- 3 A male given name transferred from the place name, of modern Scottish usage.
- 4 A village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
- 5 Synonym of Arranmore (island in County Donegal, Ireland)
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- 6 A male given name from Tamil.
Example
More examples"Westward of Arran as I sailed away; / I saw the fairest sight eye can behold-- / Rocks which, illumined by the morning's ray, / Seemed like a glorious city built of gold."
Etymology
Derived from Scottish Gaelic Arainn, but the name is ultimately probably of non-Indo-European (substrate) or Pictish origin, along with other uncertain names in Scotland such as Skye, Lewis, and Islay. Possibly from a Brythonic/Pictish term ancestral or cognate to Middle Welsh aran (“"high place"”).
Derived from Middle Persian *ʾldʾn (/arrān/). Cognate with Parthian 𐭀𐭓𐭃𐭀𐭍 (ʾrdʾn /ardān/). Ultimately from an unknown source, underlying also Old Armenian Աղուանք (Ałuankʻ) and Ancient Greek Ἀλβανία (Albanía).
Inherited from Middle English arayne, arane, from Old French araigne, aragne, from Latin arānea, related to or derived from Ancient Greek ἀράχνη (arákhnē). Doublet of Arachne.
Related phrases
More for "arran"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.