Irish

Noun

cuan m ‎(genitive singular cuain, nominative plural cuanta)

1. bay
2. harbour
3. port

Declension

Synonyms

• (bay): bá
• (port): caladh, port

Derived terms

Mutation

References

• "cuan" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “2 cúan” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Mandarin

Romanization

cuan

1. Nonstandard spelling of cuān.
2. Nonstandard spelling of cuán.
3. Nonstandard spelling of cuàn.

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.

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰuan/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish cúan ‎(“bay, gulf, harbor”), from Proto-Indo-European *kapno-, from *keh₂p- ‎(“to grasp”).

Noun

cuan m ‎(genitive singular cuain, plural cuantan or cuaintean or cuanta)

1. sea, ocean, the deep
2. large lake
3. (rare) harbour, haven, bay
4. deceit
5. multitude

Derived terms

Related terms

• muir
• fairge

Etymology 2

From Old Irish cúan ‎(“litter (of pups or other young animals); pack (of dogs, wolves, etc.); family, band, company”), from cú ‎(“hound”).

Noun

cuan m

1. pack of hounds or wolves

References

• Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, ISBN 0 901771 92 9
• “1 cúan” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “2 cúan” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin quam.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -an

Adverb

cuan

1. how, to what extent

Usage notes

• Used with adjectives and adverbs. Rare in modern speech, usually replaced with que, tan, cuanto, or como de. Written with an accent mark (cuán) when interrogative or exclamative, as in ¿cuán grande es? or ¡cuán grande es!