Jump To:

• dan
  dan

  noun

  a degree of expertise in karate, judo, tae kwon do, etc., usually signified by the wearing of a cloth belt of a particular color; level.
• Dan
  Dan

  noun
• Dan.
  Dan.

  abbreviation

  Daniel.

dan

¹ American  

[dahn, dan] / dɑn, dæn /

noun

Martial Arts.

1. a degree of expertise in karate, judo, tae kwon do, etc., usually signified by the wearing of a cloth belt of a particular color; level.

   a sixth-degree dan.

---

Dan ² American  

[dan] / dæn /

noun

1. 1. (in the Bible) a son of Jacob and Bilhah.

   2. one of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel, traditionally descended from him.

2. the northernmost city of ancient Palestine.

3. a male given name, form of Daniel.

---

idioms

1. from Dan to Beersheba, from one outermost extreme or limit to the other.

Dan ³ American  

[dan] / dæn /

noun

Archaic.

1. a title of honor equivalent to master or sir:

   Dan Chaucer.

---

Dan. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. Bible. Daniel.

2. Danish. Also Dan

---

Dan ¹ British  

/ dæn /

noun

1. 1. the fourth son of Jacob (Genesis 30:1–6)

   2. the tribe descended from him

2. a city in the northern territory of Canaan

---

Dan. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Bible Daniel

2. Danish

---

dan ³ British  

/ dæn /

noun

1. any one of the 10 black-belt grades of proficiency

2. a competitor entitled to dan grading

---

Dan ⁴ British  

/ dæn /

noun

1. an archaic title of honour, equivalent to Master or Sir

   Dan Chaucer

---

dan ⁵ British  

/ dæn /

noun

1. Also called: dan buoy.  a small buoy used as a marker at sea

---

Etymology

Origin of dan¹

First recorded in 1940–45; from Japanese, from Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese duàn “step, grade”

Origin of Dan³

1275–1325; Middle English < Old French danz < Medieval Latin domnus, contraction of Latin dominus “lord, master”

Example Sentences

Steve Bower: Switzerland have a record of getting to finals and giving young players the stage to make a name for themselves - at past tournaments it was Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

NEW YORK—Not long ago, Dan Goldman was a hero of the resistance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

Dan McCarthy, a senior adviser at Veda Partners, also was skeptical.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026

The new birth-death model may have helped to better align the two data sets, said Dan Pan, an economist at Standard Chartered.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

“Well, Dan is going to have to tell them he has kids at home and can’t be away as much.”

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau