Tan Meaning
/tæn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA light, brown-like colour.
nounA darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.
Sentence Examples
I am going to try to get a good tan.
I was browned to a nice tan.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a week at the beach, her skin began to ____ under the bright sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He got a very deep ____ after spending two whole weeks relaxing on the sunny beaches of southern Italy this summer today.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In two pints of water boil one ounce of tan, and a like portion of nutgall till reduced to a pint."
— 1848, John Hannett, Bibliopegia, or, The Art of Bookbinding in all its branches, page 65:
"The history of suits in politics is long and storied: from Obama’s “shocking” tan suit, now infamous enough to have its own Wikipedia page, […]."
— 2026 January 2, Jad Salfiti, “What Zohran Mamdani’s suit tells us about the man and the way society is changing”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
""Well, go 'long and play; but mind you get back some time in a week, or I'll tan you.""
— 1876, Mark Twain, chapter 3, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:
"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"
— 2019 September 29, Moscow17, “All For The Cause”:
"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."
— 1856, Thomas Taylor Meadows, “Military History of the Tae pings, After the Occupation of Nanking, Up to the Present Time”, in The Chinese and their Rebellions, London: Smith, Elder & Co., →OCLC, page 175:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a week at the beach, her skin began to ____ under the bright sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He got a very deep ____ after spending two whole weeks relaxing on the sunny beaches of southern Italy this summer today.