Van in Scrabble and Meaning

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What does van mean? Is van a Scrabble word?

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Is van a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word van is a Scrabble US word. The word van is worth 6 points in Scrabble:

V4A1N1

Is van a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word van is a Scrabble UK word and has 6 points:

V4A1N1

Is van a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word van is a Words With Friends word. The word van is worth 8 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

V5A1N2

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Valid words made from Van

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3-letter words (2 found)

NAV,VAN,

2-letter words (2 found)

AN,NA,

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

All 3 letters words made out of van

van avn vna nva anv nav

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word van. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in van.

Definitions and meaning of van

van

Pronunciation

  • enPR: văn, IPA(key): /væn/
  • Rhymes: -æn

Etymology 1

Short for caravan.

Noun

van (plural vans)

  1. A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus.
    Synonyms: (chiefly if used to carry a few people; "minivan" is officially used in North America) minivan, minibus
  2. (UK) An enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van.
  3. (dated) A light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.
  4. (aerospace) A large towable vehicle equipped for the repair of structures that cannot easily be moved.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

van (third-person singular simple present vans, present participle vanning, simple past and past participle vanned)

  1. (transitive) To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).
  2. (Internet slang, used in passive voice) Of law enforcement: to arrest (not necessarily in a van; derived from party van).
    • 2015 13-year-old credited with hacking CIA director’s AOL account gives bizarre, possibly final interview
      The hacker says he thinks he is about to be v&, or “vanned,” meaning being raided by law enforcement, sometime soon.
Derived terms
  • v&

See also

  • lorry
  • transit (UK)
  • truck

Etymology 2

Shortening of vanguard.

Noun

van (plural vans)

  1. Clipping of vanguard.

Etymology 3

From Cornish.

Noun

van (plural vans)

  1. (mining) A shovel used in cleansing ore.

Verb

van (third-person singular simple present vans, present participle vanning, simple past and past participle vanned)

  1. (mining) To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel.
Derived terms
  • vanner

Etymology 4

From Latin vannus (a van, or fan for winnowing grain): compare French van and English fan, winnow. Doublet of fan.

Noun

van (plural vans)

  1. A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.
  2. A wing with which the air is beaten.
Related terms
  • vane

References

  • “van”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
  • “van”, in The Century Dictionary [], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

  • AVN, NAV, NVA, nav

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch van (from; of).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fan/

Preposition

van

  1. of
  2. from

See also

  • se

Particle

van

  1. (used with a following definite article) some of (the)

Antillean Creole

Etymology

From French vent.

Noun

van

  1. air
  2. wind
  3. breath
  4. intestinal gas

Catalan

Alternative forms

  • varen (auxiliary)
  • vanen (Alghero, main verb)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central) [ˈban]
  • IPA(key): (Balearic, Valencian) [ˈvan]

Verb

van

  1. third-person plural present indicative of anar
    Van al cinema.They go to the cinema.
  2. (auxiliary, with infinitive) third-person plural present indicative of anar
    Van anar al cinema.They went to the cinema.

Chinese

Alternative forms

  • (wān), 𨋍

Etymology

From English van.

Pronunciation

Noun

van

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, often in compounds) van; minibus; vehicle (Classifier: c)
    • 我見架架van都係以9.9秒落貨,之後逃去無蹤嘅。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      我见架架van都系以9.9秒落货,之后逃去无踪嘅。 [Cantonese, simp.]
      From: 2017, 留意思, 香港劏居, chapter 13
      ngo5 gin3 gaa3 gaa3 wen1 dou1 hai6 ji5 9.9 miu5 lok6 fo3, zi1 hau6 tou4 heoi3 mou4 zung1 ge3. [Jyutping]
      (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈvan]
  • Hyphenation: van

Etymology 1

Noun

van m inan

  1. (archaic, poetic) breeze (light, gentle wind)
Declension
Related terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

van f

  1. genitive plural of vana

Further reading

  • van in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • van in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • van in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vanr (pl vanir (one of two groups of gods in Norse mythology)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vaːn/, [væːˀn]

Noun

van c (singular definite vanen, plural indefinite vaner)

  1. one of the Vanir
Inflection

Etymology 2

From English van.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vaːn/, [væːn]

Noun

van c (singular definite vanen, plural indefinite vaner)

  1. van
Inflection

Etymology 3

From Old Norse vanr (wont, accustomed).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /van/, [van]

Adverb

van

  1. (dated) pleje van – nurse, take care of
Usage notes
  • Has been replaced by vant ("usual", "customary").

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch van, from Old Dutch fan (from), from Proto-Germanic *fanē, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂poneh₁ (from), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo, *h₂pó (off, of). Cognate with Old Saxon fana, fan (from), Old Frisian fan, fon (from), Old High German fona, fon (from).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɑn/
  • (Northern) [fɑn]
  • (Suriname) [fan]
  • Hyphenation: van
  • Rhymes: -ɑn

Preposition

van

  1. of (possession, property)
  2. of (general association)
  3. by, of (creator)
  4. from (origin)
  5. from (starting point of a movement or change)
  6. from (starting point in time)
  7. from, off (removal of something from off something else)
  8. of, out of, from, with (cause)
  9. of, out of, with (material or resource)
  10. of, out of, among (out of a larger whole; partitive)
  11. from, was, formerly (indicating a change in price)
  12. (colloquial) like (quotative (used to introduce direct speech))
    Ik dacht van hé wat gek. — I thought, hey, how strange.

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: van
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: fan
  • Javindo: fan
  • Jersey Dutch: vān, fān, f'n
  • Negerhollands: van, fan, fa
    • Virgin Islands Creole: fam
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: fan

Adverb

van

  1. of, from
    Ik neem er tien van. — I’ll take ten of them.
  2. from
    Ik vertrek van daar. — I’ll start from there.
  3. by, from
    Ik word er gek van. — It drives me crazy.
    Men wordt daar sloom van. — It turns one numb.
  4. of, about
    Wat zegt u daar van? — What do you say about that?
    Ik weet daar niks van. — I don’t know anything about that.

Derived terms

  • daarvan
  • ervan

Noun

van m (plural vans or vannen)

  1. A surname or nickname beginning with the preposition van.
  2. Any surname.
    Synonyms: achternaam, familienaam

See also

  • uit

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɑ̃/

Etymology 1

Latin vannus

Noun

van m (plural vans)

  1. a winnowing basket

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English van.

Noun

van m (plural vans)

  1. a horse trailer
    • Adolphe de Neuter, Mémoires d'un entraîneur, volume 1: La casaque rose, Paris: Imprimerie Kapp, 1925, p. 145

Further reading

  • “van”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Alternative forms

  • vao
  • vão (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese vão (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin vānus (empty). Cognate with Portuguese vão and Spanish vano.

Adjective

van (feminine va, masculine plural vans, feminine plural vas)

  1. empty, devoid of content, containing only air
  2. useless, ineffective
  3. (of a person) vacuous, trivial-minded

Noun

van m (plural vans)

  1. waist
  2. empty, vacant

Derived terms

  • en van

Verb

van

  1. third-person plural present indicative of ir

References

  • “vão” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
  • “vão” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
  • “van” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • “van” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • “van” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Gallo

Etymology

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

Noun

van m (plural vans)

  1. (agriculture) winnowing machine

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French vent (wind).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vã/

Noun

van

  1. wind

Hungarian

Etymology

From Old Hungarian vagyon. See Hungarian volt.

  • Forms beginning with v- are from Proto-Finno-Ugric *wole- (to be). Cognate with Northern Mansi о̄луӈкве (ōluňkwe), Finnish olla and Estonian olema. Compare inflected forms such as volt, volna, való and Old Hungarian vola or vala. See also vagy for the stem in present tense.
  • Forms beginning with l- are from Proto-Finno-Ugric *le- (to become). Cognate with Finnish lienee (potential of olla), Karelian lienöy (potential of olla), Northern Sami leat.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈvɒn]
  • Rhymes: -ɒn

Verb

van

  1. (copulative) to be
    Antonym: nem…
    Boldog vagyok.I am happy.
  2. there to be, to exist
    Synonyms: létezik, található
    Antonym: nincs
    Van itt valaki?Is there anybody here?
  3. to have; someone (-nak/-nek) has something (-a/-e/-ja/-je)
    Péternek van egy kutyája.Peter has a dog.
  4. to be made (out) of something (with -ból/-ből)
    Synonym: készült
    Ez az ajtó fából van.This door is made out of wood.
  5. (auxiliary, construed with -va/-ve (adverbial participle) of the main verb) to be (indicating the statal passive)
    A lakásom biztosítva van. (from biztosítvabiztosít)My apartment (flat) is (has been) insured.
    A probléma meg van oldva. (from megoldvamegold)The issue is (has been) solved.

Usage notes

The functions of this verb don’t fully overlap with the usage of corresponding verbs of other languages (compare Spanish ser, estar or Thai คือ (kʉʉ), เป็น (bpen), อยู่ (yùu)):

  • Van egy törpe a zsebemben.   or   Törpe van a zsebemben.There is a dwarf in my pocket.existence (used with an indefinite subject)
  • [Nekem] van egy zsebtörpém.I have a pocket-dwarf. (literally, “[to me] there is a pocket-dwarf-my”)possession
  • A törpe a zsebemben van.The dwarf is in my pocket.location (used with a prepositional phrase in English)
  • A törpe jól van.The dwarf is well.state, condition (used with an adverb in English)
  • A törpe kicsi .The dwarf is small.copula (used with an adjective or a noun as part of the predicate)
  • As we can see, the verb is omitted in the last sentence. It happens only in the given sense and only in the present-tense third-person singular and plural forms (“he/she/it” and “they”):
    When used with an adjective (qualification) or a noun (whether with the definite or the indefinite article), i.e. when it answers the question who? or what? (including what …… like?) or which?, the (indicative present third-person) forms van and vannak are omitted:
    Béla okos.Béla is clever.
    Béla a király.Béla is the king.
    Béla egy ember.Béla is a human.
    On the other hand, if is or are answers the question where? or how?, these verb forms will appear as usual:
    Béla itt van.Béla is here.
    Béla jól van.Béla is (feeling) well.
    It also appears if van/vannak is the focus of the sentence. This happens when the sentence means that the property described by the adjective (e.g. strength) reaches or exceeds some specified level and this is emphasized by the speaker. In this case, the adjective is preceded by a word like olyan (such), annyira (that much), elég (enough).
    Béla van annyira erős, hogy felemelje a szekrényt.Béla is strong enough to lift the cupboard.
    The forms other than van and vannak are always used.
    Béla okos volt.Béla was clever.
    Okos vagyok.I am clever.
    In other senses, all forms are used:
    With adverbs and adverbial participles (suffixed -va/-ve)
    Hogy van?How is he? (also How are you?, formal singular)
    El van törve.It is broken.
  • The negative form is nincs or nincsen and sincs or sincsen (the latter two expressing “is not … either”).
    Nincs pénzem.I don't have any money.
    Itt sincs étel.There 'isn’t any food here either.
  • If the predicate includes an adjective or a noun, that is, if it answers the question who, what etc. (see above), the third person present forms are omitted again, only nem remains:
    Béla nem tanár.Béla is not a teacher.

(exist, there is, to have): (have is expressed by there is in Hungarian):

  • Van egy ház a hegyen.There is a house on the mountain.
    Van egy kutyám.I have a dog. (literally, “There is a dog-[of]-mine.”)

Conjugation

Derived terms

(With verbal prefixes):

Further reading

  • (all verb senses): van in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
  • ([dialectal] synonym of the noun vagyon): van in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Iban

Etymology

Borrowed from English van.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɛn/

Noun

van

  1. van

Interlingua

Adjective

van (comparative plus van, superlative le plus van)

  1. vain, futile
  2. vain, worthless
  3. vain, conceited

Italian

Adjective

van (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of vano

Manx

Etymology

Borrowed from English van.

Noun

van f (genitive singular van, plural vannyn)

  1. van (vehicle)

Synonyms

  • carr

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch fan, from Proto-Germanic *fanē.

Preposition

van

  1. of
  2. from (a place, person)
  3. from (a time)
  4. out of
  5. from, out of, because of

Descendants

  • Dutch: van
    • Afrikaans: van
    • Berbice Creole Dutch: fan
    • Javindo: fan
    • Jersey Dutch: vān, fān, f'n
    • Negerhollands: van, fan, fa
      • Virgin Islands Creole: fam
    • Skepi Creole Dutch: fan
  • Limburgish: ven

Further reading

  • “van”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “van (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Mòcheno

Contraction

van

  1. va + an, from a, of a

References

  • “van” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vanr.

Adjective

van (neuter vant, definite singular and plural vane)

  1. being used to (doing) something
Related terms
  • vand
  • ven, venn
  • venja

Etymology 2

From Old Norse vanr m.

Noun

van m (definite singular vanen, indefinite plural vaner or vanar, definite plural vanene or vanane)

  1. (Norse mythology) one of the Vanir

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Dutch van (of, from), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fanē. Doublet of von.

Preposition

van

  1. Used in Dutch surnames.

References

  • “van” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

  • NAV, nav

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English van.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /van/
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Syllabification: van

Noun

van m inan

  1. van (covered vehicle)

Declension

Further reading

  • van in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • van in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English van.

Pronunciation

  • Homophones: Van, (Brazil)
  • Rhymes: -ɐ̃

Noun

van f (plural vans)

  1. (Brazil) van (a covered vehicle used for carrying goods)
    Synonym: furgão

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vānus, Italian vano.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /van/

Adjective

van m or n (feminine singular vană, masculine plural vani, feminine and neuter plural vane)

  1. vain
  2. futile
  3. idle
  4. fruitless
  5. vainglorious

Declension

Derived terms

  • în van

Related terms

  • vanitate

See also

  • inutil, infructuos, vanitos
  • în zadar
  • zadarnic

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *vъnъ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋân/

Conjunction

vȁn (Cyrillic spelling ва̏н)

  1. except

Preposition

vȁn (Cyrillic spelling ва̏н) (+ genitive case)

  1. outside, out
    van kućeoutside, outdoors
  2. out of
    van zemljeabroad

Adverb

vȃn (Cyrillic spelling ва̑н)

  1. out, outside, outdoors

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈban/ [ˈbãn]
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Syllabification: van

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English van.

Noun

van m (plural vanes)

  1. van (vehicle)

Etymology 2

From Latin vadunt, third-person plural present indicative of vadō (to go).

Verb

van

  1. third-person plural present indicative of ir

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse vanr, from Proto-Germanic *wanaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wāno-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɑːn/
  • Rhymes: -ɑːn

Adjective

van (comparative vanare, superlative vanast)

  1. accustomed to, used to, having the habit to
  2. experienced, adept

Declension

Antonyms

  • ovan

Derived terms

  • med van hand

Related terms

  • vana
  • vänja
  • ovana

Anagrams

  • anv., nav

Tagalog

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English van, short for caravan.

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Tagalog)
    • IPA(key): /ˈvan/, [ˈvan]
    • IPA(key): /ˈban/, [ˈban] (more native-sounding)
  • Rhymes: -an

Noun

van (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜈ᜔)

  1. van (covered vehicle)

Further reading

  • “van”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Vietnamese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [vaːn˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [vaːŋ˧˧]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [vaːŋ˧˧] ~ [jaːŋ˧˧]

Verb

van • (𠹚, 喛)

  1. to beg, to implore
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French valve.

Noun

(classifier cái) van

  1. valve

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French valse.

Noun

van

  1. waltz
Synonyms
  • (waltz): van-xơ

Usage notes

Southern speakers pronounce the loanwords meaning "valve" and "waltz" with the phoneme /n/, not /ŋ/.

Yola

Adverb

van

  1. Alternative form of fan

References

  • Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 129

Zou

Noun

van

  1. heaven, sky

References

  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 46

Source: wiktionary.org