See Also:

tan(1) (iou)



tan noun1 & adjective. [tan] LME.
[from the verb. Cf. Old & mod. French tan, medieval Latin tannum.]
A. noun.
Crushed bark of oak or other trees, used as a source of tannin for converting hides into leather, and (formerly) in powdered form as a styptic and astringent. LME.
flowers of tan: see FLOWER noun 11.
b. Spent bark from tanning, used as a covering for paths, rides, etc. Also spent tan. M18.
c. The astringent principle of tanning bark, tannin; liquor containing this. E19.
a. A brown skin colour resulting from exposure to the sun or other source of ultraviolet light. Cf. SUNTAN. M18.
b. A yellowish-brown colour. L19.
a. A shoe, boot, or garment of a tan colour. Usu. in pl. E20.
b. Hist. A member of the Black and Tans. Usu. in pl. M20.
Comb.: tanbark = sense A.1, 1b above; tan-bed a hotbed made of spent tan; tan-house: a building in which tanning is done; tan-pit (a) a tan-vat; (b) a tan-bed; tan-vat a receptacle, tub, or pit containing the liquor in which hides are placed in tanning; Tan war Hist. the conflict between the Black and Tans and the Irish nationalist forces in 1921; tan-yard a place where tanning is carried on, a tannery.
b. adjective. Of a yellowish-brown colour. Also, bronzed, suntanned. E16.
tannish adjective somewhat tan, rather yellowish-brown M20.