tanner

[tan-er]

See more synonyms for tanner on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person whose occupation it is to tan hides.

Origin of tanner

before 1000; Middle English, Old English tannere. See tan¹, -er¹

tanner

[tan-er]

adjective

comparative of tan¹.

tanner

[tan-er]

noun

British Slang. a sixpenny piece.

Origin of tanner

First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Tanner

[tan-er]

noun

Henry Os·sa·wa [os-uh-wuh] /ˈɒs ə wə/, 1859–1937, U.S. painter, in France after 1891.

tan

[tan]

verb (used with object), tanned, tan·ning.

to convert (a hide) into leather, especially by soaking or steeping in a bath prepared from tanbark or synthetically.
to make brown by exposure to ultraviolet rays, as of the sun.
Informal. to thrash; spank.

verb (used without object), tanned, tan·ning.

to become tanned.

noun

the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
yellowish brown; light brown.
tanbark.

adjective, tan·ner, tan·nest.

of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.

Idioms

tan someone's hide, Informal. to beat someone soundly: She threatened to tan our hides if she found us on her property again.

Origin of tan

before 1000; 1920–25 for def 2; Middle English tannen to make hide into leather, late Old English *tannian (in past participle getanned; cf. tanner¹) < Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum oak bark, tanbark < Germanic; compare Old High German tanna oak, fir, akin to Dutch den fir

Related formstan·na·ble, adjectiveun·tanned, adjectivewell-tanned, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tanner

beige, drab, khaki, brownish, brown, natural, gold, saddle, ecru, cream, bronze, buff, biscuit, sand, suntan, olive, umber, tawny, yellowish

Examples from the Web for tanner

Contemporary Examples of tanner

Perry will play the role of defense attorney Tanner Bolt, defending a man after his wife goes missing.
Alec Baldwin to Host MSNBC Talk Show, Demi Lovato Will Play a Lesbian on ‘Glee’
Culture Team
September 5, 2013
Sudden cardiac death, which Tanner suffered, strikes 350,000 people a year, killing nine of 10 victims.
Doctors Should Start Advocating Dietary Options to Treat Heart Disease
Daniela Drake
July 11, 2013
Tanner was 52 when he collapsed, exercised regularly, and ate what he considered to be a healthy diet.
Doctors Should Start Advocating Dietary Options to Treat Heart Disease
Daniela Drake
July 11, 2013
“I have seen this quoted back to me,” Tanner said in an interview Monday.
Michele Bachmann, Shockingly, Gets Food Stamps All Wrong
Justin Green
March 20, 2013
At Slate, Tanner Colby does the experiment with Woodward's biography of John Belushi.
Bob Woodward's Journalism
David Frum
March 12, 2013

Historical Examples of tanner

And he gave the Tanner a crack that made him roar for all his coughing.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Howard Pyle
But the tanner had put on a high silk hat, so as to look a little taller.
The Great Hunger
Johan Bojer
In the interim Tanner walked to where Schofield stood, silent.
The Harbor of Doubt
Frank Williams
Tanner could not bridge the chasm between himself and his daughter.
The Harbor of Doubt
Frank Williams
“One of the family,” muttered Tanner, his thoughts still busy.
The Harbor of Doubt
Frank Williams

British Dictionary definitions for tanner

tanner

noun

a person who tans skins and hides

tanner

noun

British (formerly) an informal word for sixpence

Word Origin for tanner

C19: of unknown origin

tan

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 tans, tanning or tanned

to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet raysshe 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
(tr) slang to beat or flog

adjective tanner or tannest

of the colour tantan gloves
used in or relating to tanning

Derived Formstannable, adjectivetannish, adjective

Word Origin for tan

Old English tannian (unattested as infinitive, attested as getanned, past participle), from Medieval Latin tannāre, from tannum tanbark, perhaps of Celtic origin; compare Irish tana thin

tan

abbreviation for

tangent (sense 2)

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

Word Origin and History for tanner

"sixpence," slang word first recorded 1811, of unknown origin. J.C. Hotten, lexicographer of Victorian slang, thinks it may be from tanner and skin, rhyming slang for "thin," presumably in reference to the smallness of the coin. Not to be confused with tenner, slang for "ten pound note," which dates from 1861.

tan

late Old English tannian "to convert hide into leather" (by steeping it in tannin), from Medieval Latin tannare "tan, dye, a tawny color" (c.900), from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source (e.g. Breton tann "oak tree"). The meaning "make brown by exposure to the sun" first recorded 1520s. To tan (someone's) hide in the figurative sense is from 1660s. Related: Tanned; tanning.

tan

"bronze color imparted to skin by exposure to sun," 1749, see tan (v.). As a simple name for a brownish color, in any context, it is recorded from 1888. The adjective tan "of the color of tanned leather" is recorded from 1660s.

tanner in Science

tan

Abbreviation of tangent