What does "tan" mean?
A light, brown-like colour.
Tan
/tæn/ adj, name, noun, num, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, num, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A light, brown-like colour.
- Grammar: tan is listed as adj, name, noun, num, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: almond, arrange, beat, beige.
- Useful contrasts: black, cotangent, pale.
- Usage evidence: I am going to try to get a good tan.
How to use "tan"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tan" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tan" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tan" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tan" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tan" is acting as adj, name, noun, num, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "almond" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tan", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A light, brown-like colour.
- 2 An Armenian drink made of yoghurt and water similar to airan and doogh
- 3 Synonym of picul, particularly in Cantonese contexts. uncountable, usually
- 4 A twig or small switch. dialectal
- 5 Initialism of total acid number, the measure of a lubricant's or crude oil's acidity. See Total acid number on Wikipedia. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 a light brown the color of topaz wordnet
- 7 A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.
"She still has a tan from her vacation in Mexico."
- 8 Initialism of transaction authentication number, in electronic banking. See Transaction authentication number on Wikipedia. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 9 ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle wordnet
- 10 The bark of an oak or other tree from which tannic acid is obtained.
"In two pints of water boil one ounce of tan, and a like portion of nutgall till reduced to a pint."
- 11 a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun wordnet
Verb
- 1 To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun. intransitive, transitive
"No matter how long I stay out in the sun, I never tan, though I do burn."
- 2 To kill by gun, to shoot. Multicultural-London-English, slang, transitive
"Step on the wing, see an opp and I'll whack it Do it like Super Savage Who's the yute I Jet-Li-rise that dots and tan him (whoosh) Rise that dots and tan him"
- 3 get a tan, from wind or sun wordnet
- 4 To change an animal hide into leather by soaking it in tannic acid. transitive
- 5 treat skins and hides with tannic acid so as to convert them into leather wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To work as a tanner. stative, transitive
- 7 To spank or beat. informal, transitive
""Well, go 'long and play; but mind you get back some time in a week, or I'll tan you.""
Adjective
- 1 Yellowish-brown.
"a tan suit"
- 2 Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun or an artificial process intended to mimic this effect.
"You’re looking very tan this week."
Adjective
- 1 of a light yellowish-brown color wordnet
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. dialectal, rare
Proper Noun
- 1 A Chinese surname from Mandarin.
- 2 A Chinese surname from Hokkien.
- 3 Alternative form of Dan. alt-of, alternative
"The Tae ping camps commanded the Tan river which, flowing eastward, becomes further on the Wei, under which name it joins the Grand Canal at Lin tsing, on the northern side of the highest level of the Canal waters."
- 4 A surname from Vietnamese.
Example
"I am going to try to get a good tan."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tan"?
Common synonyms include: almond, arrange, beat, beige, beige, braun.
How do you use "tan" in a sentence?
I am going to try to get a good tan.
How do you pronounce "tan"?
Pronounced /tæn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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).
Etymology 2
As a verb, from Middle English tannen, from late Old English tannian (“to tan a hide”), from Latin tannare.
Etymology 3
From a Brythonic language; influenced in form by yan (“one”) in the same series.
Etymology 4
Borrowed from Armenian թան (tʻan).
Etymology 5
Borrowed from Cantonese 擔／担 (daam3).
Etymology 6
From Middle English *tan, from Old English tān (“twig, shoot, switch”), from Proto-West Germanic *tain, from Proto-Germanic *tainaz (“rod, twig, straw, lot”).
Etymology 7
It may either be a figurative use of the usual verb tan (“to cause to acquire a brownish colour”) or a Jamaican Creole pronunciation of turn, compare bun (“to kill particularly by gunshot”).
Etymology 8
From Mandarin 譚／谭 (Tán).
Etymology 9
From Hokkien 陳 /陈 (Tân). Doublet of Chen and Tran.
Etymology 10
From Mandarin 丹 (Dān), reinforced by Wade-Giles romanization: Tan¹.