noun

tan

noun

A yellowish-brown colour, or the darkened shade skin takes on after time in the sun.

"She came back from the beach with a deep tan."

"He painted the fence a warm tan."

adj

Yellowish-brown in colour, or having skin darkened by the sun.

"He wore tan trousers with a navy blazer."

"Her tan arms stood out against the white dress."

verb

To develop a darker skin tone from sun exposure, or to turn animal hide into leather using tannic acid.

"She tans easily every summer."

"The hides are tanned before being cut into leather."

How to Use Tan

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA light brown colour — usually either sun-browned skin or the shade of leather and similar materials.

Common mistake

Don't confuse the skin-darkening verb ("to tan") with "to tan someone's hide," an old-fashioned informal phrase meaning to spank or beat someone — same word, very different meaning.

Common pairings

get a tan a deep tan tan leather tan lines

Word Forms

tanner comparative, tanned past tense, tanned past tense, tans plural, tans plural, tans plural, tans singular, tans singular, tannest superlative

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She came back from the beach with a deep _____.

Etymology

From Old French tan, "tanbark" (the oak bark used to cure leather), tracing back to a Gaulish word for oak. The "get a suntan" meaning came later, from the browning effect of tanning leather.

Rhymes for tan

stan titan Satan Wotan Bhutan tartan sultan Zoltan suntan Tibetan puritan spartan

See all rhymes for tan →