Afrikaans

Conjunction

ان ‎(ən)

1. Arabic spelling of en, alternative form of اَِنْ

Arabic

Suffix

َـان • ‎(-ān)

1. Suffix used in forming intensive adjectives of the pattern فَعْلَان ‎(faʿlān), e.g. تَعْبَان ‎(taʿbān, “tired”), عَطْشَان ‎(ʿaṭšān, “thirsty”), غَضْبَان ‎(ḡaḍbān, “angry”), زَعْلَان ‎(zaʿlān, “annoyed”), كَسْلَان ‎(kaslān, “lazy”), نَعْسَان ‎(naʿsān). These adjectives generally have an irregular feminine in َـى ‎(-ā), e.g. عَطْشَى ‎(ʿaṭšā), كَسْلَى ‎(kaslā), نَسْعَى ‎(nasʿā).

Infix

َـانـ • ‎(-ān-)

1. Infix used in forming nisba (relative) adjectives, inserted between the base noun and the ending ِـيّ ‎(-iyy), e.g. أَنَانِيّ ‎(ʾanāniyy, “selfish”), based on أَنَا ‎(ʾanā) or عَلْمَانِيّ ‎(ʿalmāniyy, “worldly, secular”), based on عَالَم ‎(ʿālam, “world”).

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian 𐭠𐭭 ‎(-ān). Compare Pashto ـونه ‎(-ona).

Suffix

ـان • ‎(-ân)

1. A suffix forming the plural of animate nouns, with some exceptions. Becomes گان (-gân) after a silent ه (h), یان after و or ا.

Usage notes

Used mainly in writing.

Synonyms

• ها ‎(-hâ)

Etymology 2

Noun

ان • ‎(an)

1. (vulgar) Alternative spelling of عن.

Etymology 3

Noun

ان • ‎(en)

1. Transliteration of the name of the Latin-script letter n in English and other European languages.

Derived terms

• دی‌ان‌ای ‎(di-en-ey)