tanner

Origin:
before 1000; 1920–25 for def 2; Middle English tannen to make hide into leather, late Old English *tannian (in past participle getanned; cf. tanner¹) < Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum oak bark, tanbark < Germanic; compare Old High German tanna oak, fir, akin to Dutch den fir

Related forms

tan·na·ble, adjective

un·tanned, adjective

well-tanned, adjective

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary

tan¹ (tæn)

—n
1.	the brown colour produced by the skin after intensive exposure to ultraviolet rays, esp those of the sun
2.	a light or moderate yellowish-brown colour
3.	short for tanbark

—vb , tans, tanning, tanned
4.	to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet rays: she tans easily
5.	to convert (a skin or hide) into leather by treating it with a tanning agent, such as vegetable tannins, chromium salts, fish oils, or formaldehyde
6.	slang (tr) to beat or flog

—*adj* , tans, tanning, tanned, tanner, tannest
7.	of the colour tan: tan gloves
8.	used in or relating to tanning

[Old English tannian (unattested as infinitive, attested as getanned, past participle), from Medieval Latin tannāre, from tannum tanbark, perhaps of Celtic origin; compare Irish tana thin]

'tannable¹

—*adj*

'tannish¹

—*adj*

tan² (tæn)

—*abbreviation for*
	tangent (sense 2)

tanner¹ (ˈtænə)

—n
	a person who tans skins and hides

tanner² (ˈtænə)

—n
	(Brit) (formerly) an informal word for sixpence

[C19: of unknown origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

tan

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.

tanner

"sixpence," slang word first recorded 1811, of unknown origin. J.C. Hotten, lexicographer of Victorian slang, thinks it may be from tanner and skin, rhyming slang for "thin," presumably in reference to the smallness of the coin. (Not to be confused with tenner, slang for "ten pound note," which dates

from 1861.)

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

tan
Abbreviation of tangent

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

tan
tangent

TAN
teeny area network