the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
yellowish brown; light brown.
of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.
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
to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet rays
she 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
slang (tr) to beat or flog
of the colour tan
tan gloves
used in or relating to tanning
First recorded before 1000; 1920–25 tan 1 for def. 2; Middle English tannen “to make hide into leather,” late Old English tannian (only in past participle getanned ), from Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum “oak bark, tanbark,” from Germanic; compare Old High German tanna “oak, fir,” akin to Dutch den “fir”
By shortening
Tan is a light brown color you might also call "beige." If you want to brighten up your bedroom, you can paint your boring tan walls with green, yellow, and hot pink stripes. Some people who spend a lot of time outside in the sun end up with a tan, a darker skin tone than they usually have. The verb tan means to deliberately soak up the sun in the hopes of getting a tan. You can also use tan as a verb to describe the process of making leather from animal skins: "Then I'll tan the deer hide by soaking it in this solution."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tan Pei, who works in advertising and booked the robot to clean her Beijing flat, said she had chosen the service because she was interested to "see what it could do".
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
That momentum has continued into the current quarter, Tan said, forecasting semiconductor revenue from AI will more than triple to $16 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
In the current quarter, Tan added that he expects AI chip revenue to grow more than 200% to $16 billion.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
Chief Executive Hock Tan said AI semiconductor revenue more than doubled to $10.8 billion and forecasts $29.4 billion overall revenue for the current quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
“However, the King is not able to go on the journey, for it will take many months and may he quite dangerous. He will send his son, Prince Con Isae Tan, in his stead.”
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
