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Nan in Scrabble and Meaning

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What does nan mean? Is nan a Scrabble word?

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Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for nan

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Is nan a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word nan is a Scrabble US word. The word nan is worth 3 points in Scrabble:

N1A1N1

Is nan a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word nan is a Scrabble UK word and has 3 points:

N1A1N1

Is nan a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word nan is a Words With Friends word. The word nan is worth 5 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

N2A1N2

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Valid words made from Nan

Results

3-letter words (2 found)

ANN,NAN,

2-letter words (2 found)

AN,NA,

You can make 4 words from nan according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

Definitions and meaning of nan

nan

Translingual

Etymology

From Mandarin 閩南語 / 闽南语 (mǐnnányǔ, “Southern Min language”).

Symbol

nan

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

See also

  • Wiktionary’s coverage of Min Nan terms

English

Etymology 1

From Nan, pet form of the formerly very common female given names Anne and Agnes. As a nursemaid and grandmother, a clipping of earlier nana, from nanny under the probable influence of mama, also from Nan. Compare Mary.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /næn/
  • Rhymes: -æn
  • Homophone: NaN

Noun

nan (plural nans)

  1. (obsolete) Synonym of maid: a servant girl. [1599]
  2. (slang, obsolete) Synonym of nancy: an effeminate male homosexual. [1670]
  3. (UK, endearing) Synonym of nursemaid. [1940]
  4. (British, Ireland, Australia, Canada, endearing) Synonym of grandmother. [1955]
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See at naan.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /næn/, /nɑːn/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /næn/, /nɑn/

Noun

nan (plural nans)

  1. Alternative spelling of naan.

Anagrams

  • ANN, Ann, Ann., ann, ann.

Acehnese

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ŋajan.

Noun

nan

  1. name (word or phrase indicating a particular person, place, class or thing)

References

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

Akan

Noun

nan

  1. leg

Further reading

  • Kotey, Paul A. (1998) Twi-English/English-Twi Dictionary‎[1], New York: Hippocrene Books, →ISBN

Bikol Central

Alternative forms

  • nang

Etymology

Compare Waray-Waray ngan.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnan/ [ˈn̪an̪]

Conjunction

nan (Basahan spelling ᜈᜈ᜔)

  1. (Sorsogon) and
    Synonyms: asin, saka, buda, at, sagkod, pagkan

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nānus, from Ancient Greek νᾶνος (nânos).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈnan]

Adjective

nan (feminine nana, masculine plural nans, feminine plural nanes)

  1. (relational) dwarf

Derived terms

  • planeta nan

Noun

nan m (plural nans, feminine nana)

  1. (mythology) dwarf (a member of a race from folklore)
  2. dwarf (a person of short stature, usually as the result of a genetic condition)
  3. (folklore) in Catalan celebrations, someone who wears a large papier-mâché head

Derived terms

  • nanisme

Further reading

  • “nan”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
  • “nan”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
  • “nan” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
  • “nan” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

From Latin nōn.

Interjection

nan (ORB, broad)

  1. no
    Antonym: ouè

References

  • non in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
  • nan in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɑ̃/

Adverb

nan

  1. Informal spelling of non ; nah, nope
    Antonym: voui

Fula

Particle

nan

  1. marks the preterite tense

References

  • Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nã/

Article

nan

  1. the (definite article)

Usage notes

This word is used only when the preceding word is singular and ends with a nasal consonant.

See also

  • a
  • an
  • la
  • lan
  • yo
  • yon

Preposition

nan

  1. in

Japanese

Romanization

nan

  1. Rōmaji transcription of なん

Linngithigh

Pronoun

nan

  1. we (but not you) (first-person non-singular exclusive nominative pronoun)

See also

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to Italian nano, ultimately from Greek νᾶνος.

Noun

nan

  1. dwarf

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nan/

Noun

nan m anim (diminutive nancycko)

  1. father
    Synonym: wóśc (literary)

Declension

Coordinate terms

  • maś (“mother”)
  • syn (“son”)
  • źowka (“daughter”)

Further reading

  • Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “nan”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
  • Starosta, Manfred (1999) “nan”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Makolkol

Noun

nan

  1. mother

Further reading

  • Joshua Arlo, Indigenous language almost extinct, 2 September 2016, LoopPNG

Malecite-Passamaquoddy

Etymology

From Proto-Algonquian *nya·θanwi.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnan/, [ˈnan˧˦]

Numeral

nan (initial root nan-)

  1. five (in counting)

References

  • Passamaquoddy-Maliseet language portal
  • LeSourd, Philip S. (1993) Accent and Syllable Structure in Passamaquoddy, New York: Garland Publishing

Mandarin

Romanization

nan

  1. nonstandard spelling of nān
  2. nonstandard spelling of nán
  3. nonstandard spelling of nǎn
  4. nonstandard spelling of nàn

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.

Northern Kurdish

Etymology 1

Akin to Persian نان (nân), See there for more.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɑːn/

Noun

nan m

  1. bread
  2. food
    Synonym: xwarin
Declension

Etymology 2

Compare dialectals nian, nhan, niandn, nhandn, akin to Central Kurdish and Southern Kurdish نان (nan), Zazaki naene, Persian نهادن; equivalent to n- (“down”) +‎ dan (“to give”).

Verb

nan

  1. to put in, to set, to place
  2. (vulgar) to fuck, to copulate, to have sex with (with tê "in")
Usage notes
  • Alternative dialectal variations besides nan often give the vulgar sense, even without the tê (“in”).
  • The /ny/ part in the variation nian may create /ŋ/, a sound which doesn't appear in any other word in Northern Kurdish.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz, equivalent to ne (“not”) +‎ ān (“one”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɑːn/

Determiner

nān

  1. no; not a, not one, not any
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Assumption of St. John the Apostle"
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Assumption of St. John the Apostle"
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Assumption of St. John the Apostle"
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Clement the Martyr"
    • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

Pronoun

nān

  1. no one, nobody; none
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Clement the Martyr"

Declension

Descendants

  • Middle English: noon
    • Geordie English: nyen
    • English: none
    • Scots: nane

Old Frisian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnaːn/

Determiner

nān

  1. alternative form of nēn

Pronoun

nān

  1. alternative form of nēn

References

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Papiamentu

Etymology

The third person plural pronoun nan (“they”) and the overall plural noun suffix -nan are unique for Papiamentu and cannot be found in any other language. According to Clements and Parkvall the pronoun nan and its derived suffix -nan were introduced into the language just in the 1700s because of the grown need for a plural marking. Apparently before the introduction the need for a plural marking was not felt. Just like in other South American languages the suffix originated in the form "kas-nan" literally "house-they" (ac Lenz).

Compare the Curripaco Arawak suffix -na and the Dutch suffix -en.

Searches are being undertaken to find the African connections with the words "iran", "ene", "na", "nan", "inen" and "ane" in the languages Bini, Kwa, Anabonese, Bantu, Kimbundu, Angolar, Fa d'Ambu, Edo and Saotome in the African countries of Sao Tomé, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria (see Bartens and Schuchardt). All very improbably.

Pronoun

nan

  1. they, third person plural
  2. their

See also

  • -nan

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nanus.

Noun

nan m (plural nani)

  1. dwarf

Declension

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish dïa n- (“if, when”) with irregular change of initial d- to n-. Cognate with Irish dá (“if”).

Conjunction

nan

  1. if (subjunctive)
  2. whether (subjunctive)
Usage notes
  • Before words beginning with b, f, m or p, the form nam is used instead.
  • Only used in the conditional tense, otherwise ma is used.
  • The negative form is mura.

References

  • Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 día n-”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  • MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “na’n (na’m)”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎[3], Stirling, →ISBN, page 260

Etymology 2

Univerbation of an (“in”) +‎ an (“their”).

Preposition

nan (+ dative, triggers eclipsis of a vowel)

  1. in their
    Bha iad nan cadal. ― They were sleeping. (literally, “They were in their sleep.”)
Inflection

Etymology 3

Article

nan

  1. inflection of an (“the”):
    1. genitive plural preceding a consonant (excluding b-, f-, m-, p-)
    2. genitive plural preceding a vowel
Declension


Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish نان (nan), from Persian نان (nân).

Noun

nan (definite accusative nanı, plural nanlar) (archaic)

  1. bread
  2. food

References

  • Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnan/
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Hyphenation: nan
  • Syllabification: nan

Noun

nan m pers

  1. father (man who fathered one or more children)
    Synonyms: papa, rodźićel

Declension

References

  • “nan” in Soblex

Vietnamese

Etymology

According to Ferlus (2009), from *t-rn-aːɲ, with nominalizer -rn- infixed into Proto-Vietic *taːɲ (whence đan (“to weave”)).

Formationally indentical but independently developed are Khmu [Rook] tʰrnaːɲ ("material used for weaving") (Suwilai, 2002) and Proto-West-Bahnaric *trnaːɲ ("thread"), whence Nyaheun nnaːɲ ("thread").

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [naːn˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [naːŋ˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [naːŋ˧˧]

Noun

(classifier sợi) nan

  1. bamboo tape (for basketwork); bamboo slat (of a paper fan)

Wolof

Adverb

nan

  1. (interrogative) how

See also

  • naka

Zazaki

Alternative forms

  • non
  • nun

Etymology

Akin to Persian نان (nân, “bread”), see there for more.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈnɑn]
  • Hyphenation: nan

Noun

nan

  1. bread

Source: wiktionary.org