to convert (a hide) into leather, especially by soaking or steeping in a bath prepared from tanbark or synthetically.
to make brown by exposure to ultraviolet rays, as of the sun.
Informal. to thrash; spank.
verb (used without object),tanned,tan·ning.
to become tanned.
noun
the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
yellowish brown; light brown.
tanbark.
adjective,tan·ner,tan·nest.
of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.
Idioms for tan
tan someone's hide, Informal. to beat someone soundly: She threatened to tan our hides if she found us on her property again.
Origin of tan
1
before 1000; 1920–25 for def. 2; Middle English tannen to make hide into leather, late Old English *tannian (in past participle getanned;cf. tanner1) <Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum oak bark, tanbark <Germanic; compare Old High German tanna oak, fir, akin to Dutch den fir
The tan thinned on Carmichael's face, but his hand was steady.
The Goose Girl|Harold MacGrath
Her garments were rough and patched, but her face, protected by the sunbonnet, was untouched by tan.
Dominie Dean|Ellis Parker Butler
Mr. Gunter tried to substitute the heat of steam for that of tan, as a bottom heat, but did not succeed.
The different modes of cultivating the pine-apple|John Claudius Loudon
Tan stockings, with strappings of khaki wound round them, and moccasins.
Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People|Constance D'Arcy Mackay
His lodge will not be poor for meat nor will his wife lack skins to tan, or hides for lodge skins.
When Buffalo Ran|George Bird Grinnell
British Dictionary definitions for tan (1 of 2)
tan1
/ (tæn) /
noun
the brown colour produced by the skin after intensive exposure to ultraviolet rays, esp those of the sun
a light or moderate yellowish-brown colour
short for tanbark
verbtans, tanningortanned
to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet raysshe tans easily
to convert (a skin or hide) into leather by treating it with a tanning agent, such as vegetable tannins, chromium salts, fish oils, or formaldehyde
(tr)slangto beat or flog
adjectivetannerortannest
of the colour tantan gloves
used in or relating to tanning
Derived forms of tan
tannable, adjectivetannish, adjective
Word Origin for tan
Old English tannian (unattested as infinitive, attested as getanned, past participle), from Medieval Latin tannāre, from tannum tanbark, perhaps of Celtic origin; compare Irish tana thin