different between flan vs flam

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed around 1846 from French flan (“cheesecake, custard tart, flan”), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (“pie; cake”)), from Late Latin fladonem, accusative of flad? (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþ? (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl?h?t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh?- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”); compare German Fladen. Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”). More at flathe.

Although the -n is generally believed to derive from the Late Latin accusative form (fladonem) of flad? (“flat cake”), it might alternatively derive from an inflected form of the Frankish word (such as the Frankish accusative *flaþan, or the like). For a similar case, see garden.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /flæn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fl?n/
• Rhymes: -æn, -??n

Noun

flan (plural flans)

1. (chiefly Britain, Australia) Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)
   • 2004, Shawn Blore, Alexandra de Vries, Frommer's Brazil ?ISBN, page 175:

     The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes such as the […] broccoli flan.

2. (chiefly US, Belize) A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries.

   Synonym: crème caramel

3. (numismatics) A coin die. (Compare planchet.)

Usage notes

• In the UK and Australia, flan usually refers to a baked tart (sense 1), and would only refer to a custard dessert (sense 2) rarely and in the context of the cuisine of Latin American or Mediterranean countries which use the word in that way. In the US, flan usually refers to the (Latin American-derived) custard dessert (sense 2), though uses of sense 1 can also be found.

Related terms

• flathe
• flathon
• flawn

Translations

See also

• custard

Etymology 2

English, from a slip of the tongue by actor Nathan Fillion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Noun

flan (plural flans)

1. (informal, fandom slang) A fan of the U.S. TV series Firefly.

   Synonym: Browncoat

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:flan.

References

• Nathan Fillion interview at an In Good Company premiere, 28 December 2004 (IESB.net video) (Wikiquote transcription)

French

Etymology

From Old French flaon, from Late Latin flad? (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþ? (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl?h?t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh?- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”). Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”) (German Fladen), Dutch vla (“baked custard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl??/

Noun

flan m (plural flans)

1. baked custard tart
2. coin die

Further reading

• “flan” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle English

Noun

flan

1. Alternative form of flon

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *flainaz (“hook, spear with a tip”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleyn- (“metal arrow, hook, spear-head”). Akin to Old Norse fleinn (“hook, barbed weapon, javelin, arrow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl??n/

Noun

fl?n m or f

1. arrow

Declension

(when masculine)

(when feminine)

Descendants

• Middle English: flon, ffloon, flone, flan
  • English: flone
  • Scots: flane, flain

Romanian

Etymology

From French flan.

Noun

flan n (plural flanuri)

1. baked custard tart

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From French flan, from Old French flaon, from Late Latin flad? (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþ? (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl?h?t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh?- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?flan/, [?flãn]

Noun

flan m (plural flanes)

1. flan, sweet pudding

Derived terms

• flancito (diminutive)

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæm/

Etymology 1

17th century; from flim-flam, itself perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

Noun

flam (countable and uncountable, plural flams)

1. A freak or whim; an idle fancy.
2. (archaic) A falsehood; a lie; an illusory pretext

   Synonyms: deception, delusion

   • 1692, Robert South, "A Further Account of the Nature and Measures of Conscience", in Forty Eight Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions (published 1697)

     all Pretences, or Pleas of Conscience, to the contrary, are nothing but Cant and Cheat, Flam and Delusion.

   • a perpetual abuse and flam upon posterity

Translations

Verb

flam (third-person singular simple present flams, present participle flamming, simple past and past participle flammed)

1. (obsolete) To deceive with a falsehood.

   • God is not to be flammed off with Lyes.

Translations

Etymology 2

Imitative.

Noun

flam (plural flams)

1. (drumming) Two taps (a grace note followed by a full-volume tap) played very close together in order to sound like one slightly longer note.

Derived terms

• flam paradiddle, flamadiddle

Verb

flam (third-person singular simple present flams, present participle flamming, simple past and past participle flammed)

1. (drumming, transitive, intransitive) To play (notes as) a flam.
   • 1923, Edward B. Straight, The Straight System of Modern Drumming: The "Natural Way" to Play Drums, page 10:

     We will commence to flam the notes now, as most of them are flammed when you play a March.

   • 1975, George Shipway, Free Lance, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P (?ISBN):

     Drums ruffled and flammed.

References

Anagrams

• FMLA

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?flam/

Noun

flam m (plural flams)

1. flan (custard dessert)

Further reading

• “flam” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “flam” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “flam” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “flam” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Volapük

Noun

flam (nominative plural flams)

1. flame

Declension