Shan

[ shahn, shan ]

/ ʃɑn, ʃæn /

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for shan

Far away from the town an obliging Shan had attached himself to us as guide.
An Australian in China|George Ernest Morrison
Cursorily examined, the Shan Hai King is a farrago of falsehood; read with intelligence, it is a mine of historical wealth.
Mythical Monsters|Charles Gould
It has been suggested that in dealing with the Shan country there was undue delay.
A Civil Servant in Burma|Herbert Thirkel White
Virtually every Shan we saw in the south was heavily tattooed.
Camps and Trails in China|Roy Chapman Andrews and Yvette Borup Andrews

At this retort a snicker went up in the crowd, and Shan turned upon his followers with a brow like a thundercloud.
Ted Strong's Motor Car|Edward C. Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for shan

Shan

/ (ʃɑːn) /

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