wan

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a computer network that spans a wider area than does a local area network
  2. verb become pale and sickly
  3. adjective (of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble

Etymology

From Middle English wan, wanne (“grey, leaden; pale grey, ashen; blue-black (like a bruise); dim, faint; dark, gloomy”), from Old English wann (“dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *wannaz (“dark, swart”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Frisian wann, wonn (“dark”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

wide area network

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