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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

They had met Kristina 30 years earlier through an improv troupe in San Francisco.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026

He and his wife raised their children in San Jose, before moving to a home in Los Altos Hills.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026

Although the Rams are now 5-4, their NFC West rivals the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks both got back to winning ways.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

Now, researchers from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Lincoln have identified a surprisingly important factor: how sticky the marine snow is.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2026

He didn’t talk to anyone about what became his new obsession; he just sat alone in his office, in San Jose, California, and read books and articles and financial filings.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

The women had just become the latest targets of san tay: the increasingly popular Vietnamese pastime of hunting foreigners for English practice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

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

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

Armpit picked out a hooded red sweatshirt that said san francisco on it and had a picture of a cable car.

From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar

Quebec-born Celine Dion represented France in the 1988 contest, and took the trophy with her song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

“I used Comic Sans for the first time in my 35-year career for the rest of the type. I felt that was some sort of weird pinnacle in itself,” Kennedy explains over email.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

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

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said its clinic in Gaza City also came under fire on Monday.

From Reuters ● Nov. 20, 2023

He had a few dollars in his pocket from the last job and he had an uncle in San Francisco or one of the other California Sans.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

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