[Cantonese saam¹ baan² (akin to Mandarin sābǎn), from Middle Chinese sam paːn´ : sam, three (ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sum; akin to Tibetan gsum and Burmese sûm) + paːn´, board (since the hulls of sampans were originally constructed from three planks of wood, two for the sides and one for the bottom); see TEPPANYAKI.]