Jump To:

• sans
  sans

  preposition

  without.
• Sans.
  Sans.

  abbreviation

  Sanskrit.

sans

¹ American  

[sanz, sahn] / sænz, sɑ̃ /

preposition

1. without.

---

Sans. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Sanskrit.

---

Sans. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. Sanskrit

---

sans ² British  

/ sænz /

preposition

1. an archaic word for without

---

Etymology

Origin of sans

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Old French sans, earlier sens, seinz, a conflation of Latin sine “without” and absentiā “in the absence of” (ablative of absentia absence )

Explanation

If you have a friend who hates onions, chances are they order their food at restaurants sans onions — meaning without them. The word sans comes from the French word that means "without." People often use sans in a playful manner or when they want to sound fancy. For example, someone might say, "I'll take my coffee sans cream," to mean they don't want cream. It just sounds a bit more sophisticated.

Example Sentences

“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

Sans an Axl assist, Alice in Chains still emerged from a crowded Seattle grunge scene and found deserved fame thanks to several timeless, hit-laden studio albums and EPs in the early to mid ’90s.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2025

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

From Reuters • Nov. 20, 2023

Healthcare workers like Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a Médecins Sans Frontières plastic surgeon based in London who has been treating people at hospitals in Gaza City, are key to recording those figures.

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2023

“Our method will be as our mood suits us. Sans incendiary devices, of course. Now please start choosing people so we may begin.”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• bare
• barren
• lacking
• vacant