tan

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
  2. noun a light brown the color of topaz
  3. noun ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle

Etymology

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).

In classic literature

Synonyms

suntan, sunburn, burn

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