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Webster 1913 Edition

Fan

Fan

(făn)
,
Noun.
[AS.
fann
, fr. L.
vannus
fan, van for winnowing grain; cf. F.
van
. Cf.
Van
a winnowing machine,
Winnow
.]
1.
An instrument used for producing artificial currents of air, by the wafting or revolving motion of a broad surface
; as:
(a)
An instrument for cooling the person, made of feathers, paper, silk, etc., and often mounted on sticks all turning about the same pivot, so as when opened to radiate from the center and assume the figure of a section of a circle.
(b)
(Mach.)
Any revolving vane or vanes used for producing currents of air, in winnowing grain, blowing a fire, ventilation, etc., or for checking rapid motion by the resistance of the air; a fan blower; a fan wheel.
(c)
An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
(d)
Something in the form of a fan when spread, as a peacock’s tail, a window, etc.
(e)
A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the wind.
Clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the
fan
.
Is. xxx. 24.
2.
That which produces effects analogous to those of a fan, as in exciting a flame, etc.; that which inflames, heightens, or strengthens;
as, it served as a
fan
to the flame of his passion
.
3.
A quintain; – from its form.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Fan blower
,
a wheel with vanes fixed on a rotating shaft inclosed in a case or chamber, to create a blast of air (fan blast) for forge purposes, or a current for draft and ventilation; a fanner.
–
Fan cricket
(Zool.)
,
a mole cricket.
–
Fan light
(Arch.)
,
a window over a door; – so called from the semicircular form and radiating sash bars of those windows which are set in the circular heads of arched doorways.
–
Fan shell
(Zool.)
,
any shell of the family
Pectinidæ
. See
Scallop
,
Noun.
, 1.
–
Fan tracery
(Arch.)
,
the decorative tracery on the surface of fan vaulting.
–
Fan vaulting
(Arch.)
,
an elaborate system of vaulting, in which the ribs diverge somewhat like the rays of a fan, as in Henry VII.'s chapel in Westminster Abbey. It is peculiar to English Gothic.
–
Fan wheel
,
the wheel of a fan blower.
–
Fan window
.
Same as
Fan light
(above).
–
electric fan
.
a fan having revolving blades for propelling air, powered by an electric motor.

Fan

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Fanned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Fanning
.]
[Cf. OF.
vanner
, L.
vannere
. See
Fan
,
Noun.
,
Van
a winnowing machine.]
1.
To move as with a fan.
The air . . .
fanned
with unnumbered plumes.
Milton.
2.
To cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan.
3.
To ventilate; to blow on; to affect by air put in motion.
Calm as the breath which
fans
our eastern groves.
Dryden.
4.
To winnow; to separate chaff from, and drive it away by a current of air;
as, to
fan
wheat
.
Jer. li. 2.
5.
To excite or stir up to activity, as a fan excites a flame; to stimulate;
as, this conduct
fanned
the excitement of the populace
.
Fanning machine
, or
Fanning mill
,
a machine for separating seed from chaff, etc., by a blast of air; a fanner.

Webster 1828 Edition

Fan

FAN

,
Noun.
[L. vannus.]
1.
An instrument used by ladies to agitate the air and cool the face in warm weather. It is made of feathers, or of thin skin, paper or taffety mounted on sticks, &c.
2.
Something in the form of a woman's fan when spread, as a peacoc's tail, a window, &c.
3.
An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is thrown up and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
4.
something by which the air is moved; a wing.
5.
An instrument to raise the fire or flame; as a fan to inflame love.

Definition 2024

Fan

Fan

See also: fan, FAN, fán, fàn, fân, fān, fǎn, and Appendix:Variations of "fan"

English

Proper noun

Fan

  1. A diminutive of Frances.
    • 1917, Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself (page 173)
      Listen, Fan. That cowardly, sickly little boy you fought for in the street, that day in Winnebago, showed every sign of growing up a cowardly, sickly man.

Anagrams

German

Etymology

From English fan, short for fanatic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [fɛn]
  • Homophone: Fenn

Noun

Fan m ‎(genitive Fans, plural Fans)

  1. fan, devotee

Declension

Synonyms

Antonyms

Hypernyms

Derived terms

  • Fanartikel, Fanbetreuer, Fangemeinde, Fanklub, Fankurve, Fanmeile, Fanshop, Fanzine, Fußballfan

fan

fan

See also: Fan, FAN, fán, fàn, fân, fān, fǎn, and Appendix:Variations of "fan"

English

Noun

fan ‎(plural fans)

  1. A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
  2. An electrical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.
  3. Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
  4. An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Isaiah 30:24::
      The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Matthew 3:12::
      Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
  5. A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the wind.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

fan ‎(third-person singular simple present fans, present participle fanning, simple past and past participle fanned)

  1. (transitive) To blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.
    We enjoyed standing at the edge of the cliff, being fanned by the wind..
  2. (transitive) To slap (a behind, especially).
    • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, 1992 Bantam edition, ISBN 0553278193, page 148:
    • […] it would have been a real satisfaction toput her across my knees and pull up her skirts and giver[sic] her a swell fanning […]
  3. (intransitive, usually to fan out) To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Football/soccer fans in Argentina.

Shortened from fanatic.

Noun

fan ‎(plural fans or fen)

  1. An admirer or aficionado, especially of a sport or performer; someone who is fond of something or someone; an admirer.
    I am a big fan of libraries.

Derived terms

See also

Translations

Anagrams

Catalan

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -an

Verb

fan

  1. third-person plural present indicative form of fer

Chuukese

Noun

fan

  1. church (building)
    Ka mochen fiti fan?‎ ― Do you want to attend church?
  2. time (instance or occurrence)
    • 2010, Ewe Kapasen God, United Bible Societies, ISBN 9781920714000, Matthew 26:34, page 55:
      Jesus a apasa ngeni Peter, "Upwe apasa ngonuk pwe non ei chok pwinin me mwen ewe chukȯ epwe kökkö, fan unungat kopwe apasa pwe kose sinei ei."
      Jesus said to Peter, "I tell you that in this night before the chicken calls, three times you will say that you don't know me."

Preposition

fan

  1. under

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fɛn/, /fɑn/

Noun

fan m ‎(plural fans, diminutive fannetje n)

  1. fan (admirer)

Synonyms

Finnish

Noun

fan

  1. fan, admirer, aficionado

Declension

Inflection of fan (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative fan fanit
genitive fanin fanien
partitive fania faneja
illative faniin faneihin
singular plural
nominative fan fanit
accusative nom. fan fanit
gen. fanin
genitive fanin fanien
partitive fania faneja
inessive fanissa faneissa
elative fanista faneista
illative faniin faneihin
adessive fanilla faneilla
ablative fanilta faneilta
allative fanille faneille
essive fanina faneina
translative faniksi faneiksi
instructive — fanein
abessive fanitta faneitta
comitative — faneineen

Synonyms

French

Etymology 1

Borrowing from English fan, 1920s.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fan/

Noun

fan m, f ‎(plural fans)

  1. fan (admirer, supporter)

Etymology 2

Borrowing from English fan.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fan/

Noun

fan f ‎(plural fans)

  1. (Canada) fan (ventilator)

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin famēs.

Noun

fan f

  1. hunger

Related terms

  • famâ

Galician

Verb

fan

  1. third-person plural present indicative of facer

Hungarian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈfɒn]
  • Hyphenation: fan

Noun

fan ‎(plural fanok)

  1. (obsolete) pubis

Usage notes

Today it is used only in compounds.

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

References

  • fan at A Pallas Nagy Lexikona, Pallas Irodalmi és Nyomdai Rt., Budapest, 1897
  • László Országh, Hungarian-English Dictionary, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1977

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish anaid, fanaid ‎(“stays, remains, abides”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fˠanˠ/

Verb

fan ‎(present analytic fanann, future analytic fanfaidh, verbal noun fanacht, past participle fanta)

  1. to wait
  2. to stay

Conjugation

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
fan fhan bhfan
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin fāmes.

Noun

fan

  1. hunger

Italian

Etymology

Borrowing from English fan.

Noun

fan m, f ‎(plural fans)

  1. fan (admirer or follower)

Lojban

Rafsi

fan

  1. rafsi of falnu.

Mandarin

Romanization

fan

  1. Nonstandard spelling of fān.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of fán.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of fǎn.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of fàn.

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.

Occitan

Verb

fan

  1. third-person plural present indicative of faire

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fana, *funa ‎(“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *pone, *pana ‎(“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *apo-, *pā- ‎(“off, of”). Cognate with Old Saxon fana, fan ‎(“from”), Old Frisian fan, fon ‎(“from”), Old High German fona, fon ‎(“from”).

Preposition

fan

  1. off, from

Descendants

  • Middle Dutch: van

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *afana, whence also Old High German fon.

Preposition

fon

  1. from

Rohingya

Noun

fan

  1. betel leaf

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish anaid, fanaid ‎(“stays, remains, abides”).

Verb

fan ‎(past dh'fhan, future fanaidh, verbal noun fantail or fantainn or fanachd)

  1. stay, remain
  2. wait

Synonyms

Spanish

Noun

fan m, f ‎(plural fans)

  1. fan

Synonyms

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Late Old Norse fendinn, perhaps from Old Frisian fandiand, present participle of fandia ‎(“tempt”), from Proto-Germanic *fandōną ‎(“seek, search for, examine”).

Pronunciation 1

  • IPA(key): /'faːn/, /'faːˌaːn/, /'fɑːn/, /'fɑːˌɑːn/

Noun

fan c

  1. the devil, Satan
    Må fan ta dig.
    May the devil take you.
    Du var mig en jobbig fan.
    You're one tricky little devil.

Interjection

fan

  1. damn (referring to the devil)
    Fan! Jag glömde nycklarna.
    Damn! I forgot my keys.

See also

Etymology 2

From English fan, short for fanatic, related to the Swedish words fanatisk and fanatiker.

Pronunciation 2

  • IPA(key): /'fɛːn/
  • Homophone: fän

Noun

fan c, n

  1. fan (admirer)
    jag är ett stort fan av saffransbullar
    I'm a huge fan of saffron buns
Declension

Etymology 3

From Low German fan, used since 1772, closely related to Swedish fana, flag.

Noun

fan n

  1. vane, web (part of the anatomy of a bird's feather)
Declension
Inflection of fan 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative fan fanet fan fanen
Genitive fans fanets fans fanens

Tboli

Noun

fan

  1. bait

Uzbek

Etymology

From Arabic فَنّ ‎(fann)

Noun

fan ‎(plural fanlar)

  1. science

Synonyms

Welsh

Etymology 1

Borrowing from English van.

Noun

fan f (plural faniau)

  1. van

Etymology 2

Noun

fan

  1. Soft mutation of man.
Mutation
Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
man fan unchanged unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

West Frisian

Etymology

From Middle Frisian fen; compare Dutch van, German von

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fɔn/

Preposition

fan

  1. from
  2. of

Etymology

Shortening of Fanny, itself a short form of Frances.

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