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tan

 - 20 dictionary results
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tan

1  [tan] verb, tanned, tan⋅ning, noun, adjective, tan⋅ner, tan⋅nest.
Use tan in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to convert (a hide) into leather, esp. by soaking or steeping in a bath prepared from tanbark or synthetically.
2. to make brown by exposure to ultraviolet rays, as of the sun.
3. Informal. to thrash; spank.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become tanned.
–noun
5. the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
6. yellowish brown; light brown.
7. tanbark.
–adjective
8. of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
9. used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.
—Idiom
10. tan someone's hide, Informal. to beat someone soundly: She threatened to tan our hides if she found us on her property again.
Origin:
bef. 1000; 1920–25 for def. 2; ME tannen to make hide into leather, late OE *tannian (in ptp. getanned; cf. tanner 1 ) < ML tannāre, deriv. of tannum oak bark, tanbark < Gmc; cf. OHG tanna oak, fir, akin to D den fir

Related forms:
tan⋅na⋅ble, adjective
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tan

2  [tan]
–noun
tangent (def. 5b).
Origin:
by shortening

Tan

  [tan]
–noun
Amy, born 1952, U.S. novelist.

TAN

  [tan]
–noun
tax-anticipation note.

tan−1

 
Symbol, Trigonometry.
arc tangent.

tan⋅gent

  [tan-juhnt]
–adjective
1. in immediate physical contact; touching.
2. Geometry.
a. touching at a single point, as a tangent in relation to a curve or surface.
b. in contact along a single line or element, as a plane with a cylinder.
3. tangential (def. 3).
–noun
4. Geometry. a line or a plane that touches a curve or a surface at a point so that it is closer to the curve in the vicinity of the point than any other line or plane drawn through the point.
5. Trigonometry.
a. (in a right triangle) the ratio of the side opposite a given angle to the side adjacent to the angle.
b. Also called tan. (of an angle) a trigonometric function equal to the ratio of the ordinate of the end point of the arc to the abscissa of this end point, the origin being at the center of the circle on which the arc lies and the initial point of the arc being on the x-axis. Abbreviation: tg, tgn
c. (originally) a straight line perpendicular to the radius of a circle at one end of an arc and extending from this point to the produced radius which cuts off the arc at its other end.
6. the upright metal blade, fastened on the inner end of a clavichord key, that rises and strikes the string when the outer end of the key is depressed.
—Idiom
7. off on or at a tangent, digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another: The speaker flew off on a tangent.
Origin:
1585–90; < L tangent- (s. of tangēns, prp. of tangere to touch) in phrase līnea tangēns touching line; see -ent

Synonyms:
1. meeting, abutting.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tan
tan 1   (tān)   
v.   tanned, tan·ning, tans

v.   tr.

  1. To convert (hide) into leather, as by treating with tannin.

  2. To make brown by exposure to the sun.

  3. Informal To thrash; beat.

v.   intr.
To become brown or tawny from exposure to sun.
n.  

  1. A light or moderate yellowish brown to brownish orange.

  2. The brown color that sun rays impart to the skin.

  3. Tanbark.

    1. Tannin.

    2. A solution derived from tannin.

adj.   tan·ner, tan·nest

  1. Light or moderate yellowish-brown to brownish-orange.

  2. Having a suntan.

  3. Used in or relating to tanning.


[Middle English tannen, from Old English *tannian, from Medieval Latin tannāre, from tannum, tanbark, probably of Celtic origin.]
tan'nish adj.
tan 2  
abbr.   Mathematics
tangent
Tan   (tān)   
n.   pl. Tan or Tans
See Tanka.
tan·gent   (tān'jənt)   


(click for larger image in new window)
adj.  

  1. Making contact at a single point or along a line; touching but not intersecting.

  2. Irrelevant.

n.  

  1. A line, curve, or surface meeting another line, curve, or surface at a common point and sharing a common tangent line or tangent plane at that point.

  2. Abbr. tan Mathematics The trigonometric function of an acute angle in a right triangle that is the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the side adjacent to the angle.

  3. A sudden digression or change of course: went off on a tangent during the courtroom argument.

  4. Music An upright pin in a keyboard instrument, especially in a clavichord, that rises to sound a string when a key is depressed and stops the string at a preset length to set the pitch.


[Latin (līnea) tangēns, tangent-, touching (line), present participle of tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]
Tan·ka   (täng'kä)   
n.   pl. Tanka or Tan·kas
A member of a people inhabiting coastal areas in China, traditionally living on small boats clustered in colonies. Also called Tan.

[Chinese (Cantonese) Tánka, equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) Dànjiā : Dàn, tribal name + jiā, family, people.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

tan  (v.)
late O.E. tannian "to convert hide into leather" (by steeping it in tannin), from M.L. tannare "tan, dye, a tawny color" (c.900), from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source (e.g. Breton tann "oak tree"). The meaning "make brown by exposure to the sun" first recorded 1530. To tan (someone's) hide in the figurative sense is from 1670. The adj. tan "of the color of tanned leather" is recorded from 1665; the noun sense of "bronze color imparted to skin by exposure to sun" is from 1749; as a simple name for a brownish color, in any context, it is recorded from 1888.

tangent  (adj.)
1594, "meeting at a point without intersecting," from L. tangentem (nom. tangens), prp. of tangere "to touch," from PIE base *tag- "to touch, to handle" (cf. L. tactus "touch," Gk. tetagon "having seized," O.E. þaccian "stroke, strike gently"). First used by Dan. mathematician Thomas Fincke in "Geomietria Rotundi" (1583). The noun also is attested from 1594; extended sense of "slightly connected with a subject" is first recorded 1825. Tangential is recorded from 1630; fig. sense of "divergent, erratic" is from 1787.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

TAN

See tax anticipation note.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1tan
Pronunciation: 'tan
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: tanned; tan·ning
transitive senses
: tomake (skin) tan especially by exposure to the sun tan intransitive senses
: to get or become tanned

Main Entry: 2tan
Function: noun
: a brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or wind
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Science Dictionary
tan  
Abbreviation of tangent
tangent   (tān'jənt)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A line, curve, or surface touching but not intersecting another.

  2. The ratio of the length of the side opposite an acute angle in a right triangle to the side adjacent to the angle. The tangent of an angle is equal to the sine of the angle divided by the cosine of the angle.

  3. The ratio of the ordinate to the abscissa of the endpoint of an arc of a unit circle centered at the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system, the arc being of length x and measured counterclockwise from the point (1, 0) if x is positive or clockwise if x is negative.

  4. A function of a number x, equal to the tangent of an angle whose measure in radians is equal to x.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Abbreviations & Acronyms
tan
tangent
TAN
teeny area network
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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