FromMandarin閩南語 /闽南语(mǐnnányǔ,“Southern Min language”).

nan

1. (international standards)ISO 639-3language code forMin Nan.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Min Nan terms

FromNan, pet form of the formerly very common female given namesAnne andAgnes. As a nursemaid and grandmother, a clipping of earliernana, fromnanny under the probable influence ofmama, also fromNan. CompareMary.

• IPA^(key):/næn/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-æn
• Homophone:NaN

nan (pluralnans)

1. (obsolete)Synonym ofmaid: aservantgirl.[1599]
2. (slang,obsolete)Synonym ofnancy: aneffeminatemalehomosexual.[1670]
3. (UK,endearing)Synonym ofnursemaid.[1940]
4. (British,Ireland,Australia,Canada,endearing)Synonym ofgrandmother.[1955]

   We had mynan over for Christmas dinner.

See atnaan.

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/næn/,/nɑːn/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/næn/,/nɑn/

nan (pluralnans)

1. Alternative spelling ofnaan
   • 2002, Desmond Barry,A Bloody Good Friday, page157:

     Gerry ordered poppadoms and parathas and then he was interrupted by requests for vindaloos, chicken madrases and sag joshes, rice, raita andnan, from Priest, Morgan and Maria Grazia.

• ANN,Ann,Ann.,ann,ann.

FromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*ŋajan.

nan

1. name(word or phrase indicating a particular person, place, class or thing)

• 2007.The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

nan

1. leg

   Menan ahono

   Myleg is swollen

• Kotey, Paul A. (1998)Twi-English/English-Twi Dictionary‎^[1], New York: Hippocrene Books,→ISBN

• nang

CompareWaray-Warayngan.

• IPA^(key):/ˈnan/ [ˈn̪an̪]

nan (Basahan spellingᜈᜈ᜔)

1. (Sorsogon)and

   Synonyms:asin,saka,buda,at,sagkod,pagkan

Borrowed fromLatinnānus, fromAncient Greekνᾶνος(nânos).

• IPA^(key):(Central,Balearic,Valencia)[ˈnan]

nan (femininenana,masculine pluralnans,feminine pluralnanes)

1. (relational)dwarf

• planeta nan

nan m (pluralnans,femininenana)

1. (mythology)dwarf(a member of a race from folklore)
2. dwarf(a person of short stature, usually as the result of a genetic condition)
3. (folklore) in Catalan celebrations, someone who wears a largepapier-mâché head

• nanisme

• “nan”, inDiccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition,Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan:Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “nan”, inGran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana,Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana,2025.
• “nan” inDiccionari normatiu valencià,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “nan” inDiccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

FromLatinnōn.

nan(ORB, broad)

1. no

   Antonym:ouè

• non in DicoFranPro:Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – ondicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• nan in Lo trèsor Arpitan – onarpitan.eu

• IPA^(key):/nɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

nan

1. Informal spelling ofnon ;nah,nope

   Antonym:voui

nan

1. marks the preterite tense

• Oumar Bah,Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

• IPA^(key):/nã/

nan

1. the (definite article)

This word is used only when the preceding word is singular and ends with a nasal consonant.

• a
• an
• la
• lan
• yo
• yon

nan

1. in
   • 2019 March 19, “Rankont ann Itali ant Anvwaye Espesyal Etazini ak Larisi sou Kriz Venezuela a”, inLavwadlamerik‎^[2]:

     Anvwaye espesyal Etazini pou Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, ak vis-minis afè etranjè Larisi, Sergei Ryabkov, ap fè reyinyonnan vil Wòm ann Itali pou yo pale sou “sityasyon Venezuela kap agrave.”

     American Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliot Abrams and Russian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov are having a meetingin the city of Rome, Italy to speak about "the worsening situation in Venezuela."

nan

1. Rōmaji transcription ofなん

nan

1. we (but not you) (first-person non-singular exclusive nominative pronoun)

Akin toItaliannano, ultimately from Greekνᾶνος.

nan

1. dwarf

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key):/nan/

nan m anim (diminutivenancycko)

1. father

   Synonym:wóśc(literary)

• maś(“mother”)
• syn(“son”)
• źowka(“daughter”)

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “nan”, inSłownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague:ОРЯС РАН,ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag,2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “nan”, inDolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

nan

1. mother

• Joshua Arlo,Indigenous language almost extinct, 2 September 2016,LoopPNG

FromProto-Algonquian*nya·θanwi.

• IPA^(key):/ˈnan/,[ˈnan˧˦]

nan (initial rootnan-)

1. five (in counting)

• Passamaquoddy-Maliseet language portal
• LeSourd, Philip S. (1993)Accent and Syllable Structure in Passamaquoddy, New York: Garland Publishing

nan

1. Nonstandard spelling ofnān.
2. Nonstandard spelling ofnán.
3. Nonstandard spelling ofnǎn.
4. Nonstandard spelling ofnàn.

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Akin toPersianنان(nân), See there for more.

• IPA^(key):/nɑːn/

nan m

1. bread
2. food

   Synonym:xwarin

Compare dialectalsnian,nhan,niandn,nhandn, akin toCentral Kurdish andSouthern Kurdishنان(nan),Zazakinaene,Persianنهادن; equivalent ton-(“down”) +‎dan(“to give”).

nan

1. toput in, toset, toplace
2. (vulgar) tofuck, tocopulate, to havesex with (withtê "in")

• Alternative dialectal variations besidesnan often give the vulgar sense, even without thetê(“in”).
• The /ny/ part in the variationnian may create /ŋ/, a sound which doesn't appear in any other word in Northern Kurdish.

FromProto-West Germanic*nain, fromProto-Germanic*nainaz, equivalent tone(“not”) +‎ān(“one”).

• IPA^(key):/nɑːn/

nān

1. no;nota,notone,notany

   nān mann

   no one (literally "no person")

   nān þing

   nothing

   • c. 992,Ælfric, "The Assumption of St. John the Apostle"

     Iohannes þa gegaderode ðæra gymstana bricas, and beseah to heofonum, þus cweðende, "Drihten Hælend, nis ðenān ðing earfoðe; þu ge-edstaðelodest ðisne tobrocenan middangeard on þinum geleaffullum, þurh tácen þære halgan rode; ge-edstaðela nu þas deorwurðan gymstanas, ðurh ðinra engla handa, þæt ðas nytenan menn þine mihta oncnāwon, and on þe gelyfon."

     John then gathered the fragments of the jewels, and looked to heaven, thus saying, "Lord Jesus, to theenothing is difficult; thou didst restore this crushed world for thy faithful, through sign of the holy rood; restore now these precious gems, by thy angels' hands, that these ignorant men may acknowledge thy powers, and in thee believe."

   • c. 992,Ælfric, "The Assumption of St. John the Apostle"

     Iohannes þa bead ðreora daga fæsten gemænelice; and he æfter ðam fæstene wearð swa miclum mid Godes gaste afylled, þæt he ealle Godes englas, and ealle gesceafta, mid heahlicum mode oferstáh, and mid ðysum wordum þa godspellican gesetnysse ongan, "In principio erat uerbum, et uerbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat uerbum, et reliqua:" þæt is on Englisc, "On frymðe wæs word, and þæt word wæs mid Gode, and þæt word wæs God; þis wæs on frymðe mid Gode; ealle ðing sind þurh hine geworhte, and nisnān þing būton him gesceapen."

     John then ordered a general fast of three days; and after the fast he was so greatly filled with the spirit of God, that he excelled all God's angels and all creatures with his exalted mind, and began the evangelical memorial with these words, "In principio erat verbum," etc., that is in English, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God; this was in the beginning with God; all things are made through him, and without himnothing is created.".

   • c. 992,Ælfric, "The Assumption of St. John the Apostle"

     Nu wæs se bigleofa gemett on Iohannes byrgene, andnān ðing elles; and se mete is weaxende on hire oð ðisne andweardan dæg.

     Now this food was found in the grave of John, andnothing else, and the meat is growing in it to this present day.

   • c. 992,Ælfric,"The Nativity of St. Clement the Martyr"

     Wēn is þæt ēower sum cweðe to him sylfum on stillum geðohtum, Hwæt forlēton has ġebroðru, Petrus and Andreas, þe for nēannān ðing næfdon? ac wē sceolon on þisum ðinge heora gewilnunge swīðor āsmēaġan þonne heora ġestreon.

     It is to be expected that one of you in his still thoughts say to himself, What did the brothers, Peter and Andrew, leave, who had almostnothing? but in this case we should rather consider their desire than their possession.

   • c. 995,Ælfric,Extracts on Grammar in English

     Þæt word willan næfþnān bebēodendlīċ, for þon þe sē willa sċeal bēon ǣfre frī.

     The word 'to want' hasno imperative, because the will must always be free.

nān

1. no one,nobody;none

   Ūrenān ne mæġ tōweardnesse forecweðan.

   None of us can predict the future.

   • late 10th century,Ælfric,"The Nativity of St. Clement the Martyr"

     Þā cwelleras þā ġeopenodon þæt cweartern andnānne ne ġemētton.

     The executioners then opened the prison and foundno one.

• Middle English:noon
  • Geordie English:nyen
  • English:none
  • Scots:nane

• IPA^(key):/ˈnaːn/

nān

1. Alternative form ofnēn

nān

1. Alternative form ofnēn

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009)An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company,→ISBN

The third person plural pronounnan(“they”) and the overall plural noun suffix-nan are unique for Papiamentu and cannot be found in any other language. According to Clements and Parkvall the pronounnan and its derived suffix-nan were introduced into the language just in the 1700s because of the grown need for a plural marking. Apparently before the introduction the need for a plural marking was not felt. Just like in other South American languages the suffix originated in the form "kas-nan" literally "house-they" (ac Lenz).

Compare the Curripaco Arawak suffix-na and the Dutch suffix-en.

Searches are being undertaken to find the African connections with the words "iran", "ene", "na", "nan", "inen" and "ane" in the languages Bini, Kwa, Anabonese, Bantu, Kimbundu, Angolar, Fa d'Ambu, Edo and Saotome in the African countries of Sao Tomé, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria (see Bartens and Schuchardt). All very improbably.

nan

1. they, third person plural
2. their

• -nan

Borrowed fromLatinnanus.

nan m (pluralnani)

1. dwarf

FromOld Irishdïa n-(“if, when”) with irregular change of initiald- ton-. Cognate withIrishdá(“if”).

nan

1. if(subjunctive)

   Nan robh mi beartach, b'urrainn dhomh taigh mór a cheannach.

   If I were rich, I could buy a mansion.

2. whether(subjunctive)

   Bhiodh gràdh agam air fhathastnan robh e beartach neo bochd.

   I would still love him whether he were rich or poor.

• Before words beginning withb,f,m orp, the formnam is used instead.
• Only used in theconditional tense, otherwisema is used.
• The negative form ismura.

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 día n-”, ineDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “na’n (na’m)”, inAn Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[3], Stirling,→ISBN, page260

Univerbation ofan(“in”) +‎an(“their”).

nan (+ dative,triggers eclipsis of a vowel)

1. intheir

   Bha iadnan cadal. ―They were sleeping. (literally, “They werein their sleep.”)

nan

1. inflection ofan(“the”):
   1. genitiveplural preceding a consonant (excludingb-,f-,m-,p-)
   2. genitiveplural preceding a vowel

FromOttoman Turkishنان(nan), fromPersianنان(nân).

nan (definite accusativenanı,pluralnanlar)(archaic)

1. bread
2. food

• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013),The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık,→ISBN

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key):/ˈnan/
• Rhymes:-an
• Hyphenation:nan
• Syllabification:nan

nan m pers

1. father(man who fathered one or more children)

   Synonyms:papa,rodźićel

• “nan” in Soblex

According to Ferlus (2009), from*t-rn-aːɲ, with nominalizer-rn- infixed intoProto-Vietic*taːɲ (whenceđan(“to weave”)).

Formationally indentical but independently developed areKhmu [Rook]tʰrnaːɲ ("material used for weaving") (Suwilai, 2002) and Proto-West-Bahnaric*trnaːɲ ("thread"), whenceNyaheunnnaːɲ ("thread").

• (Hà Nội)IPA^(key):[naːn˧˧]
• (Huế)IPA^(key):[naːŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon)IPA^(key):[naːŋ˧˧]

(classifiersợi)nan

1. bambootape (forbasketwork);bambooslat (of apaperfan)

nan

1. (interrogative)how

• naka

• non
• nun

Akin toPersianنان(nân,“bread”), see there for more.

• IPA^(key):[ˈnɑn]
• Hyphenation:nan

nan

1. bread