tan
verb (used with object)
to convert (a hide) into leather, especially by soaking or steeping in a bath prepared from tanbark or synthetically.
tan
1 American
[tan]
/ tæn /
verb (used with object)
-
tans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tanned,
past participle, past
-
tanning
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
tans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tanned,
past participle, past
-
tanning
present participle
noun
-
the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
-
yellowish brown; light brown.
adjective
-
tanner,
comparative
-
tannest
superlative
-
of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
-
used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.
idioms
tan
2
American
[tan]
/ tæn /
noun
Tan
3
American
[tan]
/ tæn /
noun
TAN
4
American
[tan]
/ tæn /
noun
tan
1
British
/ tæn /
abbreviation
tan
2
British
/ tæn /
noun
-
the brown colour produced by the skin after intensive exposure to ultraviolet rays, esp those of the sun
-
a light or moderate yellowish-brown colour
-
short for tanbark
verb
-
to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet rays
she tans easily
-
to convert (a skin or hide) into leather by treating it with a tanning agent, such as vegetable tannins, chromium salts, fish oils, or formaldehyde
-
slang (tr) to beat or flog
adjective
-
of the colour tan
tan gloves
-
used in or relating to tanning
tan
Scientific
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tansimple
-
tanssimple
-
have tannedperfect
-
has tannedperfect
-
am tanningprogressive
-
are tanningprogressive
-
is tanningprogressive
-
have been tanningperfect progressive
-
has been tanningperfect progressive
Past
-
tannedsimple
-
had tannedperfect
-
was tanningprogressive
-
were tanningprogressive
-
had been tanningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tan1
First recorded before 1000; 1920–25 tan 1 for def. 2; Middle English tannen “to make hide into leather,” late Old English tannian (only in past participle getanned ), from Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum “oak bark, tanbark,” from Germanic; compare Old High German tanna “oak, fir,” akin to Dutch den “fir”
Origin of tan2
By shortening
Explanation
Tan is a light brown color you might also call "beige." If you want to brighten up your bedroom, you can paint your boring tan walls with green, yellow, and hot pink stripes. Some people who spend a lot of time outside in the sun end up with a tan, a darker skin tone than they usually have. The verb tan means to deliberately soak up the sun in the hopes of getting a tan. You can also use tan as a verb to describe the process of making leather from animal skins: "Then I'll tan the deer hide by soaking it in this solution."
Vocabulary lists containing tan
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.
See Examples For:
District Court judge denied an emergency application seeking to prevent the county from euthanizing Bruce, a 100-pound black and tan German shepherd mix.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Maduro, wearing tan jail garb, listened to the proceedings on Wednesday through headphones that provided Spanish interpretation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The gang of at least four men were communicating by walkie talkies and they were all wearing post office-style clothing as well as make up, fake tan and glasses.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Some attendees even paid tribute to one of the most famous footnotes of Obama’s presidency by wearing tan suits, a lighthearted nod to the outfit that once sparked outsized political controversy.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
Only North Korean soldiers on patrol everywhere, their tan uniforms looking drab and dusty.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
Tan said he sees progress and hope among the research and ongoing drug development for Alzheimer’s.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Tan described new memory architectures as one of his “pet projects” and pointed to tighter CPU-memory integration as a key area of focus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram found Wilby guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump declared that the “success and rise” of Tan was an “amazing story.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
That was the airport at Tan Son Nhut.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
Looking at the chart, a bullish falling wedge pattern is forming on the ratio chart against the TAN ETF:
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
She and her colleagues will now examine whether targeting the inflammatory factors and cellular interactions that induce TAN immunosuppression can help improve brain tumor responses to immunotherapy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2023
SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. — Buffeted by rising costs and declining interest from golfers, the Links at Queen Creek course closed two years ago after 26 years of operation.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2022
Evaluating a tangent function with a scientific calculator as opposed to a graphing calculator or computer algebra system is like evaluating a sine or cosine: Enter the value and press the TAN key.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015
It is invaluable for TAN, FRECKLES, SUNBURN, Etc., and is a perfect hygienic safeguard against cutaneous disorders.
From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton) Jamison
Back on TikTok, in her own way, beauty influencer and fake tanner Jemma is also trying to prevent others from going through what Jak did.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
He was also tanner and had shaved his head.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2023
The state supplies 6 percent of the world’s king, snow, tanner and Dungeness crabs, per the institute.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2022
Also on Monday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced a small Bering Sea crab harvest of more than 2 million pounds of tanner crab will open Oct.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
The tanner, whose house it was that burned, sent a couple of boys skipping right under the Kargs’ noses, taunting and yelling and vanishing again like smoke into smoke.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Sen. Rick Scott will face off against one of Florida’s tannest mothers in the GOP primary this election cycle.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Q: Is Sutter the tannest man in sports?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2014
Gaggles of British tourists with fur coats and spray tans jostled for seating, clutching their outerwear to their chests for space as they scouted for a table to open up.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
They left with healthy tans, a target of 35 medals and a plan to take over another Olympics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
The nights are drawing in, the tans are fading and we all need a bit of sparkle in our lives as we head into autumn.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
More than a few bore tans so dark that they were browner than me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025
Take away the tans, that beach in front of Sully’s was Mayflower, top deck.
From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin
To the looksmaxxers, these peptides aren’t about health; they’re for shedding fat, building muscle, clearing up skin, and even getting tanned.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
NANTUCKET, Mass.—On a recent morning, a tanned Dave Portnoy appeared to be living his best rich-guy life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Within minutes of the announcement, memories of the elegant and tanned designer began to flood social media.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
"It's often portrayed as fashionable to be tanned all year round," he said, noting how easily accessible sunbeds are, with many high streets filled with salons.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025
Their bodies were tanned and their hair was bleached by the sunlight.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Who needs umbrellas when you’ve got a tanning bed, a chin-up bar, beef-tallow stockpiles, and a gallon of only-sometimes-poisonous raw milk?
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
WSJ | Buy Side: Get a summertime glow, no matter the season, with these expert-recommended tanning mousses, sprays and drops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
They also proposed displaying cigarette-style images at sunbed shops and tanning salons to dissuade people from using them.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He did, however, quickly stop using MT-II, the tanning peptide that years ago was dubbed the “Barbie peptide.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
He lay down and rolled in the muck of the tanning shed.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
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.
