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• San
  San

  noun

  a member of a nomadic aboriginal people of southern Africa.
• -san
  -san

  a suffix used in Japanese as a term of respect after names or titles.
• san
  san

  noun

  short for sanatorium

San

¹ American  

[sahn] / sɑn /

noun

• Sans,
  plural
• San
  plural

1. a member of a nomadic aboriginal people of southern Africa.

2. any of more than a dozen related Khoisan languages spoken by the San.

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San ² American  

[sahn] / sɑn /

noun

1. a river in central Europe, flowing from the Carpathian Mountains in W Ukraine through SE Poland into the Vistula: battles 1914–15. About 280 miles (450 km) long.

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-san ³ American  

1. a suffix used in Japanese as a term of respect after names or titles.

   Suzuki-san; samurai-san.

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San ¹ British  

/ sɑːn /

noun

1. an aboriginal people of southern Africa

2. a group of the Khoisan languages, spoken mostly by Bushmen

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San ² British  

/ sɑːn /

noun

1. a river in E central Europe, rising in W Ukraine and flowing northwest across SE Poland to the Vistula River. Length: about 450 km (280 miles)

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san ³ British  

/ sæn /

noun

1. old-fashioned short for sanatorium

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• San
  plural
• Sans
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of -san

< Japanese, contraction of -sama suffix denoting direction, appearance, respect

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

San san Sans

The robotaxis arrived in San Diego for the first time over the summer, around the same time the company also expanded into Tampa, Las Vegas and Denver.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

In a previous hearing in 2019, de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi herself addressed the court, housed in the iconic Peace Palace in The Hague.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

“Everyone just kept saying, ‘Go get glasses,’” says Babcock, 41, of San Antonio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

“I kept hearing, ‘Oh, you have to see this play, this play is so good,’” she recalled during a Zoom interview from the show’s San Francisco stop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Officer Berdecki's house is on the other side of the San, where Przemyśl was German while we were still Russian.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Alcoa san k 7% after the aluminum producer’s first-quarter earnings and revenue fell short of analysts’ expectations.

From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026

Miyazaki san responded, “I am making this movie because I do not have the answer.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2023

“Miyazaki san is a master of that stature.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2023

The pair, Sean Turnell, a former adviser to deposed Myanmar leader Aung san Suu Kyi and Vicky Bowman, were headed to Bangkok on an evening flight, the source said.

From Reuters ● Nov. 17, 2022

After school, Has- san and I climbed its branches and snatched its bloodred pome­granates.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Then, enter Comic Sans typeface — a perfect dash of irony.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

Médecins Sans Frontières says it treats asylum seekers at Wethersfield, and in a report published in May, it said migrants had not been "appropriately screened" as to whether they were suitable for housing there.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025

But Doctors Without Borders, known in French as Médecins Sans Frontières, confirmed that’s not the case.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

BBC London previously interviewed Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, from Médecins Sans Frontières, who has been helping to treat people wounded in the war, at the Al Ahli Arab Hospital.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2023

While I felt at ease giving my talk on TMV in shorts, the French contingent feared that I would go one step further by arriving at Sans Souci in the same outfit.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

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