different between white vs tan

English

Alternative forms

• whight, whyte, whyght (obsolete)
• White (race-related)

Etymology

From Middle English whit, hwit, from Old English hw?t, from Proto-West Germanic *hw?t, from Proto-Germanic *hw?taz (whence also West Frisian wyt, Dutch wit, German weiß, Norwegian Bokmål hvit, Norwegian Nynorsk kvit), from Proto-Indo-European *?weydós, a byform of *?weytós (“bright; shine”). Compare Lithuanian švi?sti (“to gleam”), šviesa (“light”), Old Church Slavonic ????? (sv?t?, “light”), ??????? (sv?t?l?, “clear, bright”), Persian ????? (sefid), Avestan ????????????????????????? (spa?ta, “white”), Sanskrit ????? (?vetá, “white, bright”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?t, IPA^(key): /wa?t/
• (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hw?t, IPA^(key): /?a?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophones: wight, Wight, wite (accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adjective

white (comparative whiter or more white, superlative whitest or most white)

1. Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
   • c. 1878, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Holidays"

     white as the whitest lily on a stream.

   • 1381, quoted in Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242 (1961):

     dorr??, d?r? adj. & n. […] cook. glazed with a yellow substance; pome(s ~, sopes ~. […] 1381 Pegge Cook. Recipes page 114: For to make Soupys dorry. Nym onyons […] Nym wyn […] toste wyte bred and do yt in dischis, and god Almande mylk.

   Antonyms: black, nonwhite, unwhite

2. (sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to Caucasians, people of European descent with light-coloured skin.
3. (chiefly historical) Designated for use by Caucasians.

4. Relatively light or pale in colour.

5. Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.
6. (of a person or skin) Lacking coloration (tan) from ultraviolet light; not tanned.

   Synonyms: fair, pale

   Antonym: tanned

7. (of coffee or tea) Containing cream, milk, or creamer.

   Antonym: black

8. (board games, chess) The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the white set, no matter what the actual colour.

9. Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
10. Honourable, fair; decent.

    • White as thy fame, and as thy honour clear.

    • 1916, Julia Frankau, Twilight

      He's a fine fellow, this Gabriel Stanton, a white man all through

    • 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, 2010, p.12:

      ‘We've only met twice and you've been more than white to me both times.’
11. Grey, as from old age; having silvery hair; hoary.
12. (archaic) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
13. (obsolete) Regarded with especial favour; favourite; darling.

    • Come forth, my white spouse.

    • c. 1626, John Ford, Tis Pity She's a Whore

      I am his white boy, and will not be gulled.

14. (politics) Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
    • 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, 2010, p.163:

      Aimée de Coigny had always adopted with enthusiasm the political views of her ruling lover and she had thus already held nearly every shade of opinion from red republicanism to white reaction.

15. (of tea) Made from immature leaves and shoots.
16. (typography) Not containing characters; see white space.
17. (typography) Said of a symbol or character outline, not solid, not filled with color. Compare black (“said of a character or symbol filled with color”).

    Compare two Unicode symbols: ? = "WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX"; ? = "BLACK RIGHT POINTING INDEX"

18. Characterised by the presence of snow.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• Bislama: waet
• Tok Pisin: wait
• ? Japanese: ???? (howaito)
• white fella
  • ? Nyunga: wadjela
• white gin
  • ? Gamilaraay: waatyin
  • ? Ngiyambaa: wadjiin
  • ? Wiradhuri: waajin

Translations

See white/translations § Adjective.

Noun

white (countable and uncountable, plural whites)

1. The color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.
2. A person of European descent with light-coloured skin.
3. Any butterfly of the family Pieridae.
4. (countable and uncountable) White wine.
5. (countable) Any object or substance that is of the color white.
   1. The albumen of bird eggs (egg white).
   2. (anatomy) The sclera, white of the eye.
   3. (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) The cue ball in cue games.
   4. (slang, US) Cocaine
   5. The snow- or ice-covered "green" in snow golf.
   6. A white pigment.

      Venice white

6. (archery) The central part of the butt, which was formerly painted white; the centre of a mark at which a missile is shot.
7. The enclosed part of a letter of the alphabet, especially when handwritten.
   • 1594, Hugh Plat, The Jewell House of Art and Nature, London, Chapter 38, p. 42,^[3]

     Also it giueth a great grace to your writing, if the whites of certeine letters bee made of one equall bignesse with the o. supposing the same were all round, as the white of the b. of the a. p. y. v. w. x. q. d. g. and s.

   • 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, p. 18,^[4]

     […] the a. b. d. g. o. p. q. &c. […] must be made with equal whites.

   • 1931, Margery Allingham, Police at the Funeral, Penguin, 1939, Chapter 14, p. 157,^[5]

     She copied the whole alphabet like that, as though only the inside whites of the letters registered on her mind.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

white (third-person singular simple present whites, present participle whiting, simple past and past participle whited)

1. (transitive) To make white; to whiten; to bleach.

   • whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of […] uncleanness

   • so as no fuller on earth can white them

Derived terms

• white out

See also

• leucite
• leukoma
• leukosis
• Sauvignon blanc
• Svetambara
• terra alba

Further reading

• white on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Race on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• white on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• withe

Middle English

Adjective

white

1. inflection of whit:
   1. weak singular
   2. strong/weak plural
2. Alternative form of whit

Translingual

Symbol

tan

1. (trigonometry) The symbol of the trigonometric function tangent.

Usage notes

The symbol tan is prescribed by the ISO 80000-2:2019 standard. The symbol tg, traditionally preferred in Eastern Europe and Russia, is explicitly deprecated by ISO 80000-2:2019.

Alternative forms

• tg

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæn/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French tan (“tanbark”), from Gaulish tanno- (“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)d?onu (“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 ?????? (thámnos, “thicket”), Avestan ????????????????????????????????? (?anuuar^?), Sanskrit ??? (dhánu).

Noun

tan (plural tans)

1. A yellowish-brown colour.

2. A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.

3. The bark of an oak or other tree from which tannic acid is obtained.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

tan (comparative tanner, superlative tannest)

1. Of a yellowish-brown.

   Mine is the white car parked next to the tan pickup truck.

2. Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun.

   You’re looking very tan this week.

Translations

Etymology 2

As a verb, from Middle English tannen, from late Old English tannian (“to tan a hide”), from Latin tannare.

Verb

tan (third-person singular simple present tans, present participle tanning, simple past and past participle tanned)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun.

2. (transitive) To change an animal hide into leather by soaking it in tannic acid. To work as a tanner.
3. (transitive, informal) To spank or beat.
   • 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, ch. 3:

     "Well, go 'long and play; but mind you get back some time in a week, or I'll tan you."

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Etymology 3

From a Brythonic language; influenced in form by yan (“one”) in the same series.

Numeral

tan

1. (dialect, rare) The second cardinal number two, formerly used in Celtic areas, especially Cumbria and parts of Yorkshire, for counting sheep, and stitches in knitting.

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Armenian ??? (t?an).

Noun

tan

2. An Armenian drink made of yoghurt and water similar to airan and doogh

Translations

Etymology 5

From the Cantonese pronunciation of ?

Noun

tan (usually uncountable, plural tans)

1. Synonym of picul, particularly in Cantonese contexts.

Etymology 6

From Old English t?n (“twig, switch”), from Proto-Germanic *tainaz (“rod, twig, straw, lot”).

Noun

tan (plural tans)

2. (dialectal) A twig or small switch.

Related terms

• mistletoe

References

Anagrams

• -ant, ANT, Ant, Ant., NAT, NTA, Nat, Nat., TNA, a'n't, an't, ant, ant-, ant., nat

Ainu

Alternative forms

• taan

Etymology

From ta (“this”) +? an (“is”), literally “this being”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tan]

Determiner

tan (Kana spelling ??, plural tanokay)

1. (demonstrative) this

Derived terms

• tanpe (tanpe, “this”)
• tanto (tanto, “today”)

See also

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *te?nets (“fire”) (compare Old Irish teine, Welsh tân).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tã?n/

Noun

tan m (plural tanioù)

1. fire

Inflection

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?tan/
• Rhymes: -an

Adverb

tan

1. so, such
2. (in comparisons, tan ... com) as ... as

Derived terms

Related terms

• tant (“so much, so many”)

Further reading

• “tan” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Chuukese

Noun

tan

1. dream

Cornish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *te?nets (“fire”) (compare Old Irish teine, Welsh tân).

Noun

tan m (plural tanow)

1. fire

Mutation

French

Etymology

Probably from Gaulish *tanno- (“oak”), from Latin tannum (“oak bark”) (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?). Ultimately from Proto-Celtic *tanno- (“green oak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??/

Noun

tan m (plural tans)

1. pulped oak bark used in the tanning process (i.e. of tanning leather)

Further reading

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

Fula

Alternative forms

• tun (Pular)

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

tan

1. only

Usage notes

• Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular). (however tun is more common in Pular of Futa Jalon)

Adverb

tan

1. only

Usage notes

• Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular). (however tun is more common in Pular of Futa Jalon)

References

• M.O. Diodi, Dictionnaire bilingue fulfuldé-français, français-fulfuldé, Niger(?), 1994.
• M. Niang, Pulaar-English English-Pulaar Standard Dictionary, New York: Hippocrene Books, 1997.
• D. Osborn, D. Dwyer, and J. Donohoe, A Fulfulde (Maasina)-English-French Lexicon: A Root-Based Compilation Drawn from Extant Sources Followed by English-Fulfulde and French-Fulfulde Listings, East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1993.
• F.W. de St. Croix and the Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages, Bayero University, Fulfulde-English Dictionary, Kano: The Centre, 1998.
• F.W. Taylor, Fulani-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1932. (New York:Hippocrene Books, 2005)

Galician

Adverb

tan

1. so, as (in comparisons)

Usage notes

• Usually paired with como and coma, as tan […] como/coma

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French temps (“time, weather”).

Noun

tan

1. time
2. weather

Hungarian

Etymology

Back-formation from tanít, tanul, etc. Created during the Hungarian language reform, which took place in the 18th–19th centuries.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t?n]
• Hyphenation: tan
• Rhymes: -?n

Noun

tan (plural tanok)

1. doctrine, lore
2. science of, theory, branch of instruction
3. (as a suffix in compounds) -logy, -ology, -graphy (a branch of learning; a study of a particular subject)

   Synonym: tudomány

4. (as a prefix in compounds) educational, academic

   Synonym: tanulmányi

Declension

Derived terms

• tanár

Further reading

• tan in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

Japanese

Romanization

tan

1. R?maji transcription of ??

Entry: tan

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese ???? (tan:)

Noun

tan

1. class

References

• Kurabe, Keita (2016-12-31) , “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research?^[1], volume 35, DOI:10.14989/219015, ISSN 1349-7804, pages 91–128

Mandarin

Romanization

tan

1. Nonstandard spelling of t?n.
2. Nonstandard spelling of tán.
3. Nonstandard spelling of t?n.
4. Nonstandard spelling of tàn.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish tan, from Proto-Celtic *tan? (“(point in) time”), from Proto-Indo-European *tn?néh?, from *ten- (“to stretch”).

Noun

tan f

1. (point in) time

Derived terms

• in tan (“when”)
• in tan sin (“then”)

Descendants

• Irish: tan

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “tan, tain”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *tainaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??n/

Noun

t?n m (nominative plural t?nas)

1. twig, branch

Declension

Derived terms

• mistilt?n

Old French

Etymology

From Gaulish *tannos (attested in the place names Tannetum and Tannogilum), from Proto-Celtic *tannos (“green oak”).

Noun

tan m (oblique plural tans, nominative singular tans, nominative plural tan)

1. pulped oak bark used in the tanning process (i.e. of tanning leather)

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *tan? (“(point in) time”), from Proto-Indo-European *tn?néh?, from *ten- (“to stretch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tan/

Noun

tan f

1. (point in) time

Declension

Derived terms

• in tan (“when”)

Descendants

• Middle Irish: tan
  • Irish: tan

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “tan, tain”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

• tant

Etymology

Latin tantus.

Adverb

tan

1. such; so much; to such and extent

Adjective

tan

1. such; so much

References

• von Wartburg, Walther (1928–2002) , “tantus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 131, page 85

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse t?nn, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tan/

Noun

tan f

1. tooth

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: tand

Somali

Determiner

tan

1. this (feminine)

Spanish

Etymology

From tanto, from Latin tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tan/, [?t?ãn]
• Rhymes: -an

Adverb

tan

1. so, as

Usage notes

Usually paired with como: tan […] como - "as […] as"

or with que: tan […] que - "so […] that"

Determiner

tan

1. such, such a

Derived terms

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From English stand.

Verb

tan

1. to stay, to reside
2. to stay, to remain in a state

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish ???? (ta?), from Common Turkic *ta?.

Noun

tan (definite accusative tan?, plural tanlar)

1. dawn, twilight

Declension

Synonyms

• seher
• ?afak

Vietnamese

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese ? (SV: tán, t?n).

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [ta?n??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [ta????]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ta????]

Verb

tan • (?, ?, ?, ?)

1. to melt
2. to dissolve, dissipate

Derived terms

References

• Lê S?n Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)

Welsh

Alternative forms

• (under): dan, o dan

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *tan, from Proto-Celtic *tanai, dative of *tan?, from Proto-Indo-European *tn?néh?.

Preposition

tan (triggers soft mutation on a following noun)

1. until
2. (literary) under
3. while

Usage notes

In literary Welsh, tan can mean both "under" and "until". In Welsh usage today, however, dan (originally the soft mutation of tan) has become a preposition in its own right with the meaning "under" whereas tan means "until", retaining the meaning "under" in certain expressions, compound words and place names. Modern dan or tan are not usually mutated. o dan is an alternative to dan.

See also

• tân

Mutation

Wolof

Noun

tan (definite form tan mi)

1. vulture

Yogad

Adverb

tan

1. more; -er

Yámana

Noun

tan

1. earth, soil, dust, ground

Zay

Etymology

Cognate to Silt'e [script needed] (tan).

Noun

tan

1. smoke (from a fire)

References

• Initial SLLE Survey of the Zway Area by Klaus Wedekind and Charlotte Wedekind