any device for producing a current of air by the movement of a broad surface or a number of such surfaces.
an implement of feathers, leaves, paper, cloth, etc., often in the shape of a long triangle or of a semicircle, for waving lightly in the hand to create a cooling current of air about a person.
We sat on the veranda, cooling ourselves with palm-leaf fans.
anything resembling such an implement, as the tail of a bird.
any of various devices consisting essentially of a series of radiating vanes or blades attached to and revolving with a central hublike portion to produce a current of air.
ceiling fan; wall fan.
a series of revolving blades supplying air for winnowing or cleaning grain.
Horology. fly.
a semicircular decoration of bunting.
Physical Geography. an alluvial fan.
to move or agitate (the air) with or as if with a fan.
to cause air to blow upon, as from a fan; cool or refresh with or as if with a fan.
He fanned his face with a newspaper.
to stir to activity with or as if with a fan.
to fan a flame; to fan emotions.
(of a breeze, current of air, etc.) to blow upon, as if driven by a fan.
A cool breeze fanned the shore.
to spread out like a fan.
The dealer fanned the cards.
Informal. to move (oneself ) quickly.
You'll fan your tail out of here if you know what's good for you.
Agriculture. to winnow, especially by an artificial current of air.
Baseball. (of a pitcher) to strike out (a batter).
Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to punish by spanking; spank.
Your mother will fan you good if you break that dish.
to strike, swing, or brush lightly at something.
Western U.S. (chiefly cowboy use). to slap the flanks of (a horse or other animal) repeatedly with a hat to get it to move or move faster.
to spread out like a fan (often followed byout ).
The forest fire fanned out in all directions.
Baseball. (of a batter) to strike out, usually by swinging at and missing the pitch charged as the third strike.
any device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or number of surfaces, esp a rotating device consisting of a number of blades attached to a central hub
a machine that rotates such a device
any of various hand-agitated devices for cooling onself, esp a collapsible semicircular series of flat segments of paper, ivory, etc
something shaped like such a fan, such as the tail of certain birds
agriculture
a kind of basket formerly used for winnowing grain
a machine equipped with a fan for winnowing or cleaning grain
to cause a current of air, esp cool air, to blow upon, as by means of a fan
to fan one's face
to agitate or move (air, smoke, etc) with or as if with a fan
to make fiercer, more ardent, etc
fan one's passion
to spread out or cause to spread out in the shape of a fan
to fire (an automatic gun) continuously by keeping the trigger depressed
to fire (a nonautomatic gun) several times by repeatedly chopping back the hammer with the palm
to winnow (grain) by blowing the chaff away from it
an ardent admirer of a pop star, film actor, football team, etc
a devotee of a sport, hobby, etc
Where does fan come from? Is the word fan, as in a device with rotating blades, related in any way to a fan, as in an enthusiastic devotee? Whether in cooling a room or cheering for a team, both fans do move a lot of air, as it were. But no, these senses of fan come from very different—though equally fantastic—roots. Fan, the deviceLet’s start with fan in the sense of “any device for producing a current of air.” This fan is very old, recorded in English before 900. It comes from the Old English, fann, directly from the Latin vannus, a “winnowing basket.”Winnowing basket? This calls for a lesson in agricultural history. A winnowing basket is a type of broad, shallow basket used to winnow, that is, to free grain from lighter particles of chaff, dirt, and the like. This can be done, as shown in the video below, by tossing the grain, allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away the chaff and any impurities. A winnowing basket is what fan originally meant in English. The word fan expanded to refer to other kinds of devices used to blow away chaff. By association with the movement of air involved in winnowing, fan further expanded to name various devices for generating currents of air, especially for cooling and ventilation. Fan, the devotee Now, onto to that other fan, the kind that fills arenas for sporting and music events. This fan is “an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, or similar.” It was shortened from fanatic, “a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.”A fan is passionate, yes, but compared to a fanatic, the connotation of the word fan is generally much less extreme and uncritical. Fan was first recorded in American English around 1885–90. Early uses of fan refer to baseball die-hards before spreading to all sorts of other ardent followers. Dig deeperThe word fanatic has an interesting origin of its own. Entering English around 1515–25, fanatic derives from the Latin fānāticus, “pertaining to a temple.” Fānāticus came to refer to people seen as “frantic” and “enthusiastic”—people thought to be inspired by a divinity or orgiastic rites. Fānāticus is based on the noun fānum, “temple, sanctuary.” Discover more at profane.
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English fann, from Latin vannus “winnowing basket”
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; short for fanatic
A fan cools you by moving the air around you. During the warmest weeks of the summer, it's easier to sleep if you have a fan in your bedroom. Some fans are electric: you plug them in and a large blade turns fast and blows air around the room. Hand fans are small enough to hold, and as you wave them back and forth, they send puffs of air over your hot face. To do this is to fan yourself. A completely different fan is the one who follows a sports team or a rock band devotedly: "The fans jumped to their feet and cheered."
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Apple’s stock has been crushing the market to a degree not seen in six years, and it just won over a new fan.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
So, I always think 'what would they want as a fan if they got the opportunity to play on the pitch?'.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
At Nike’s Midtown store in New York, located a block from a World Cup fan village, jerseys for the brand’s most iconic teams—England, France, Brazil, Norway and the U.S.—were still mostly sold out on Thursday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Fineman joined “SNL” at the start of the 2019-2020 season, and quickly became a fan favorite for her stellar impersonations of stars, politicians and even her castmates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
“Well, I’m a big fan of you and what you and Patience have accomplished today,” Maria said.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
But what really made Platner appealing to Moraff and Fan didn’t have anything to do with the kind of person he was or what was, or wasn’t, on his résumé.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
Those intensified recruitment efforts were on full display at the rodeo, when a Border Patrol SUV and recruitment tent were parked smack in the middle of the Fan Zone outside the arena.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Plus, the World Cup’s Fan Matrix, how the 48-team tournament has turned into a classic and Jason Gay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
"For general purpose robots, it will take longer," said Daniel Fan of Innodisk, which makes parts for robots.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
No wonder Uncle Fan thought he should confess to something he had not done.
From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang
Fans wore the jerseys for their favorite teams: Morocco, France, Egypt.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Fans fear soccer might never be the same now that VAR is everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Fans have been urged to use shuttle stations, which have cooling sites, rather than walk all the way.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Fans voted him into the starting lineup, with the most final-round votes of any AL outfielder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Fans along the shoreline peered through the curtain of rain, struggling to distinguish one boat from another.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Some movie fans are just finding out that the $250 million production isn’t an original screenplay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
"Another fantastic opportunity for our men's team to challenge for silverware, with learnings from this tournament and even more support from our brilliant fans to look forward to. Onwards."
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Unfortunately, high ticket prices were one major downside of this year’s tournament for many fans.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Part of the “championship process” Bruins fans can expect to hear about is the “98%.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
The servers continued to work, their fans humming, drives periodically spinning and then stopping.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
As the voters deliver their ballots to neighborhood drop-off sites and others wait to vote in person Tuesday, Times reporters fanned out across the city to ask residents whom they planned to support for mayor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
What’s Next: A cryptic social media post by Nvidia last week fanned rumors that it will be making a chip for Windows PCs, something that could be announced at the GTC Taipei convention starting today.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Pilots had fanned out to airports in South Florida, Charlotte, Houston and Columbus, Ohio, to go pick up the stranded jets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Visa’s earnings beat was driven by healthy consumer spending despite inflation worries fanned by the Iran war.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
The smoking zone passed under the highway and fanned out through a neighboring woodland and up towards St. Ignatius Catholic Church on a knoll above the town.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Walking out to the pitch, Messi leads, De Paul at his side, the rest of the squad fanning out behind almost in a wedge - like a street gang protecting its leader.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
That started a streak of 10 batters who Ohtani retired in order, fanning six of them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
The anticipated mega-IPOs of SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI are fanning private equity’s hopes that initial public offerings will once again be a viable exit path for the industry’s nearly 33,000 unsold businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
"People who are donating money are causing the problem of animal cruelty here, because they keep on fuelling it, they are fanning the fire," says Kakooza.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
“What we expect to do,” said Miss Love, taking off her hat and fanning herself with it, “is make people want what they don’t know they want. You call that salesmanship, Will.”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
