flan
Americannoun
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Spanish Cooking. a dessert of sweetened egg custard with a caramel topping.
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an open, tartlike pastry, the shell of which is baked in a bottomless band of metal flan ring on a baking sheet, removed from the ring and filled with custard, cream, fruit, etc.
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a piece of metal shaped ready to form a coin, but not yet stamped by the die.
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the metal of which a coin is made, as distinct from its design.
noun
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an open pastry or sponge tart filled with fruit or a savoury mixture
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a piece of metal ready to receive the die or stamp in the production of coins; shaped blank; planchet
Etymology
Origin of flan
1840–50; < French; Old French flaon < Late Latin fladōn-, stem of fladō < Germanic; compare Old High German flado ( German Fladen ) flat cake
Explanation
The word flan is used to describe several different foods, most of which involve either pastry or custard. It's also used in the making of coins (not for a type of food). A flan can be a dessert that's custard-baked without any pastry and covered with a caramel topping. It can also be a type of open-topped pie or tart. The pastry shell for this type can be filled with sweet stuff, like cream, custard, and fruit, or savory stuff, like cheese, potatoes, and caramelized onions. In money production, on the other hand, a flan is a blank disk of metal that gets stamped to turn it into a coin.
Vocabulary lists containing flan
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Two friends meet up at Chainsaw in Melrose Hill, the cafe with the flan lattes, crispy arepas and sorbet-colored wall everybody and their mom has been talking about.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
Don’t skip dessert: the coffee flan is silky smooth and utterly addictive.
From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025
Leche flan is the Filipino version of creme caramel.
From Washington Times • May 31, 2023
The flan is a sturdy round, better for the ring of strawberry sauce that circles it and the passion fruit sauce on top that lends pucker.
From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2023
“Not as good as the flan I used to make in Cuba. The sugar isn’t the same here. And the milk is so watery.”
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
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.
