Shan

[shahn, shan]

noun, plural Shans, (especially collectively) Shan.

a group of Mongoloid tribes in the hills of Burma.
a language spoken in the Shan States and belonging to the Tai group of languages.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for shan

Historical Examples of shan

The other ladies of the Shan States were also beautifully dressed.
From Edinburgh to India & Burmah
William G. Burn Murdoch
Still, we do have fights sometimes, for these Shan guards are brave fellows.
On the Irrawaddy
G. A. Henty
"Anson Drake, I arrest you in the name of the Shan," he said.
Heist Job on Thizar
Gordon Randall Garrett
See the notices in the body of the work from the Shan Hai King.
Mythical Monsters
Charles Gould
Of course the ladies, like their Lolo and Shan sisters, do not bind their feet.
Three Years in Western China
Alexander Hosie

British Dictionary definitions for shan

Shan

noun

plural Shans or Shan a member of a Mongoloid people living in Myanmar, Thailand, and SW China
the language or group of dialects spoken by the Shan, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family and closely related to Thai

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012