Gan in Scrabble and Meaning

• Finder
• Unscrambler
• Dictionary

Valid words made from Gan

Results

3-letter words (2 found)

2-letter words (3 found)

You can make 5 words from gan according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

Definitions and meaning of gan

gan

Translingual

Symbol

gan

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Gan.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Gan terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Etymology 1

Probably a variant of gang, from Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to step; walk; go”).

Alternative forms

• gang

Verb

gan (third-person singular simple present gans, present participle gannin, simple past went or gan or ganned, past participle gone or ganned)

1. (Northumbria) To go.

Etymology 2

Verb

gan

1. (archaic) simple past of gin

References

Further reading

• Frank Graham, editor (1987), “GAN”, in The New Geordie Dictionary, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing, →ISBN.
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “gan”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[1], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
• “Gan”, in Palgrave’s Word List: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[3], archived from the original on 2024-09-05, from F[rancis] M[ilnes] T[emple] Palgrave, A List of Words and Phrases in Everyday Use by the Natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham […] (Publications of the English Dialect Society; 74), London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1896, →OCLC.
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
• Bill Griffiths, editor (2004), “gan”, in A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Northumbria University Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• AGN, ANG, GNA, NGA, nag

Antillean Creole

Etymology

From French gant.

Noun

gan

1. glove

Bambara

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡã˦]

Verb

gan

1. to jump

Etymology 2

Adjective

gan

1. hot

Verb

gan

1. (transitive) to heat up

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Dharug

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ŋan/

Noun

gan

1. reptile
2. (specifically) goanna

References

• Jakelin Troy (1993) The Sydney Language, Canberra, →ISBN, page 53

Dutch Low Saxon

Verb

gan

1. alternative spelling of gaon

Garo

Etymology

Borrowed from Bengali গান (gan).

Noun

gan

1. song

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cen (“besides; without”), from Proto-Celtic *kina (“on this side of”); compare Middle Welsh am-gen (“otherwise”), Breton ken (“otherwise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡən̪ˠ/, /ɡənˠ/
• (Munster, also) IPA^(key): /ɡɑn̪ˠ/
• (Aran, also) IPA^(key): /ɡɑn/, /ɡɔn/

Preposition

gan (plus nominative, triggers no mutation in specific references but lenition in general references)

1. without
2. not (in conjunction with a verbal noun)

Usage notes

• In standard written Irish, triggers lenition (except of d, s, t) of unmodified nouns, e.g. gan phingin (“without a penny”). Does not trigger lenition of modified nouns, e.g. gan pingin ina phóca (“without a penny in his pocket”). In the meaning ‘not’, does not trigger lenition of either a verbal noun or on the direct object of the verbal noun, e.g. gan ceannach (“not to buy”), gan pingin a shaothrú (“not to earn a penny”).
• Unlike most prepositions, gan takes the nominative case of nouns, as shown by the lack of mutation of consonant-initial masculine singular nouns after the definite article, for example gan an plúr (“without the flour”), and the presence of t-prothesis of vowel-initial masculine singular nouns after the article, for example gan an t-airgead (“without the money”).
• Unlike most prepositions, gan does not form prepositional pronouns, but is instead followed by the disjunctive form of a personal pronoun, for example gan mé (“without me”), gan sinn (“without us”), gan é (“without him”).

Quotations

References

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “gan”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “gan”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “gan”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

Japanese

Romanization

gan

1. Rōmaji transcription of がん
2. Rōmaji transcription of ガン

Jawe

Noun

gan

1. tattoo

References

• André-Georges Haudricourt et Françoise Ozanne-Rivière, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije - fwâi - nemi - jawe, Lacito - Documents, Asie-Austronésie 4, SELAF no. 212, Peeters, 1982

Latvian

Conjunction

gan

1. both, and

Usage notes

Used in pairs: gan jauna, gan skaista "both young and beautiful"

Mandarin

Romanization

gan

1. nonstandard spelling of gān
2. nonstandard spelling of gǎn
3. nonstandard spelling of gàn

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Preposition

gan

1. alternative form of gain (“against”)

Etymology 2

Verb

gan

1. (Early Middle English, Northern) alternative form of gon (“to go”)

Etymology 3

Verb

gan

1. alternative form of gon (“gone”)

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• gēn, kēn

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German gān, gēn, from Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈɡaːn/

Verb

gān (irregular, third-person singular present gāt, past tense gienc, past participle gegān or gegangen, past subjunctive gienge, auxiliary sīn)

1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants

• Alemannic German: gaa, gan, ge, gi, goo, gu

  Swabian: gau, geha

• Bavarian: geh, gea, gean, gian

  Cimbrian: gian, ghéenan (Sette Comuni)

  Northern Bavarian: [ɡ̊ɛi]

• Central Franconian: giehn, gohn (northeastern Moselle Franconian), john, jonn (Ripuarian)

  Hunsrik: gehn, keen

  Luxembourgish: goen

• East Central German: gii, giin (Erzgebirgisch)

  Upper Saxon German:

  Vilamovian: gejn

• East Franconian:
• German: gehen
• Rhine Franconian: geh, gehe, gäh, gähe, gäj, gäje, gih, gihe, gej, geje

  Frankfurterisch: [g̥ε̃ː]

  Pennsylvania German: geh

• Yiddish: גיין (geyn)

Middle Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *t-kaːn, from Old Chinese 肝 (OC *s.kˤa[r]).

Noun

gan

1. (anatomy) liver

Descendants

• Vietnamese: gan

References

• Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) “gan”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Cognate with Central Kurdish and Southern Kurdish گان (gan), Gurani گای (gai), Zazaki gaene, gainaene, Persian گاییدن, Middle Persian [Term?] (/⁠gādan⁠/).

In some dialects it's the animal equivalent of tê niyan (“to fuck; lit. "to put in, insert"”) or a meaner way of saying "fuck" by insinuating the person cursed at is an animal. That considered, the actual sense may have been "to breed" and derived from ga (“ox; bull; stud; any male cattle”).

In some dialects and derived terms it's used only for homosexual acts or prostitution.

Verb

gan (present stem -gê-)

1. to fuck, to breed, to have sexual intercourse, to copulate

Derived terms

• tev gan ("fuck up")
• xwe gê ("fuck yourself, fuck off")
• xwe gan bi paş va ("back the fuck off")

Noun

gan f

1. sex

Derived terms

• gan dan ("to whore oneself", lit. "to give sex")
• gander ("whore" lit. "sex-giver")
• ganganok ("sodomite")
• ganewî ("sexy")
• gan kirin ("to have sex")

Nupe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã̄/

Verb

gan

1. to exceed; to surpass

   Èmì mi li gan èmì u. ― My house is cleaner than her house.

   U ge gan kpáátá. ― It's the best. (literally, “It is good surpassing all”)

   Gànsìkiya ligwa gankò. ― The truth washes the hands more than soap.

Usage notes

Used to construct the comparative and superlative.

Derived terms

• gangan (“to be too much”)
• ganganyí (“very much”)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Verb

gān

1. to go

Conjugation

Derived terms

• anagān
• antgān
• bigān
• fargān
• ūtgān

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: gâen
  • Dutch: gaan
    • Afrikaans: gaan
    • Javindo: ha, haat
    • Jersey Dutch: xân, xâne
    • Petjo: gaan, haan
  • Limburgish: gaon

Further reading

• “gān”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”). The verb was defective in Germanic and may only have existed in the present tense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑːn/

Verb

gān

1. to go
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, "Gospel of Saint John", chapter 21, verse 3

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Chair of Saint Peter"

2. to walk
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Chair of Saint Peter"

   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 6:66

3. to enter
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 24:38-39

Usage notes

• The expected present participle, gānde, is very rare. Instead gangende is almost always used, from the synonym gangan: Līf nis būtan gangendu sċadu ("Life is but a walking shadow").

Conjugation

Synonyms

• gangan

Derived terms

Related terms

• gang

Descendants

• Middle English: gon, gan, ga, goo, goon, go
  • English: go
  • Geordie English: gan
  • Middle Scots: go, goe, gone
    • Scots: gan, gae, ga, gang
  • Yola: goe, go, goeth (influnced by Irish silent -th), gow

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Verb

gān

1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: geen (simple past, past participle of gunge)
• West Frisian: gean

Old High German

Alternative forms

• gēn — see there for more

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaːn/

Verb

gān

1. to go

Usage notes

• The ā-form was found especially in Alemannic and in western Franconian. In the former, the vocalism was regularized early on (du gās, er gāt); in the latter, the West Germanic vowel alternation (du geis, he geit) has been preserved even to this day.

Descendants

• Middle High German: gān
  • Alemannic German: go, gon
  • Central Franconian: jonn, john, gohn

See also

• stān

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Verb

gān

1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants

• Middle Low German: gân
  • Low German: gahn
    • Dutch Low Saxon: gan, gaan, gaon
    • German Low German: gahn
  • Plautdietsch: gone

Salar

Etymology

Cognate with Turkmen gan.

Pronunciation

• (Xunhua, Qinghai, Ili, Xinjiang) IPA^(key): /qɑn/

Noun

gan

1. blood

Derived terms

• ganağusı (“to bleed”)

References

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “gan”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, page 460
• Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “gan”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 218
• 马伟 [Ma Wei], 朝克 [Chao Ke] (2014) “gan”, in 撒拉语366条会话读本 [Salar 366 Conversation Reader]‎^[4], 1^st edition, 社会科学文献出版社 [Social Science Literature Press], →ISBN, page 109
• Yakup, Abdurishid (2002) “gan”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[5], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 104

Scots

Alternative forms

• gae, ga, gang

Etymology

From Northern Middle English gan, from Old English gān (“to go”). Past tense supplied by Old English wenden (“to wend”).

Verb

gan (third-person singular simple present gans, present participle gan, simple past went or wett, past participle been)

1. to go

Scottish Gaelic

Pronoun

gan

1. them (direct object)

   A bheil sibh gan creidsinn? ― Do you believe them?

Usage notes

• Before words beginning with b, f, m or p gam is used instead.

Related terms

Sumerian

Romanization

gan

1. romanization of 𒃶 (gan)

Ternate

Etymology

From older gani.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡan]

Noun

gan

1. alternative form of gani (“louse”)

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English gun.

Noun

gan

1. gun

Turkmen

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *kān (“blood”). Cognate with Turkish kan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaːn/

Noun

gan (definite accusative gany, plural ganlar)

1. blood

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “gan” in Enedilim.com
• “gan” in Webonary.org

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣaːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Vietic *t-kaːn, derived from Old Chinese 肝 (OC *s.kˤa[r]) (SV: can). Cognate with Chut [Rục] təkaːn¹ ("bold").

Attested as gan in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

Displaced native lòm, now only found in the compounds đỏ lòm and chua lòm.

Noun

(classifier lá, cái) gan • (肝, 𭆺)

1. (anatomy) liver
2. (figurative) audacity; gall; balls

   to gan ― audacious

   nhát gan/gan thỏ đế ― chicken

Adjective

gan • (肝, 𭆺)

1. hepatic
2. courageous, brave, tough

Derived terms

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

(classifier cây) gan

1. Malus doumeri

   Synonym: sơn tra

Anagrams

• nga, Nga

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡan]

Noun

gan (nominative plural gans)

1. (male or female) goose

Declension

Hypernyms

• böd
• nim

Hyponyms

• ganil

Derived terms

See also

• barnig (“brant goose, brent goose”), Branta bernicla

Welsh

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh cant, from Old Welsh cant, from Proto-Celtic *kanta. Cognate with Breton gant and Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “against; downwards”).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ɡan/
  • (North Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ɡɪn/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ɡan/
• Rhymes: -an

Preposition

gan (triggers soft mutation)

1. (North Wales) used with bod to indicate possession

   Synonym: gyda

2. by (after a passive construction)

3. by, from (authorship)

4. used with verbal noun to indicate an action simultaneous with that of the main verb, while, whilst
   • King, Gareth (1993) Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars), London and New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 131:

Usage notes

See gan on Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru for more information.

Inflection

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡan/
• Rhymes: -an

Adjective

gan

1. soft mutation of can

Noun

gan

1. soft mutation of can

References

Mutation

Wolof

Pronunciation

Noun

gan (definite form gan gi)

1. stranger
2. guest

Yoruba

Alternative forms

• gẹ̀n (Òǹkò)

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã̀/

Verb

gàn

1. (transitive) to disparage, criticize, belittle

   Synonyms: pẹ̀gàn, ṣáátá, ṣàbùkù, kẹ́gàn

   ọ̀tá mí gàn mí ― my enemy disparages me

Usage notes

• gan before a direct object

Derived terms

Related terms

• lámèyítọ́ (“critic”)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• gẹn (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã̄/

Verb

gan

1. (intransitive) to become stiff, to harden

   kankéré ti gan ― The concrete has hardened

Derived terms

• Aganjú (“orisha of the wilderness”)
• ìgan
• agan

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. (transitive) to stub, to clear (plants or a forest)

   Synonym: ṣán

   àgbẹ́ gán' igbó ― The farmer cleared the forest

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to use something very sparingly

   Synonym: sún

   mo ń gán owó lò ― I am using money very sparingly

Derived terms

Etymology 5

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to hit something with a thrown or spun object

   mo ń gán owó lò ― I am using money very sparingly

Derived terms

Etymology 6

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to tack or stich something together

   Synonym: rán

   mo gán etí aṣọ pọ̀ ― I hemmed the edge of the cloth together

Derived terms

Related terms

• gbá (“to stich together the edges of a mat”)

Etymology 7

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to snatch something in the air, especially with one hand

   Synonyms: hán, wọ́n

   mo fọwọ́ gán bọ́ọ̀lù náà pákó ― I used my hand to snatch the ball swiftly from the air

Derived terms

Source: wiktionary.org