fan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /fæn/
text: Audio (Southern England)
ipa: /faːn/
ipa: [fɛən]
ipa: [feən]
ipa: [fɛːn]
rhymes: -æn
homophone: faan
homophone: fanne
Forms: form: fans
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
*Latin ventus (“wind”)
*Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”)
*German Wanne (“winnowing basket”)
*Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”)
*Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”).
More at winnow.
Senses: glosses: A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
examples: text: He didn't switch on the fan because the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.
glosses: An electrical or mechanical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.
examples: text: "If I cannot be of service, then I certainly don't wish to impose," said McGinty, with a quick fan of breeze that indicated a sweeping bow.
ref: 1998, Brock Thoene, Bodie Thoene, A New Frontier: Saga of the Sierras, page 181:
glosses: The action of fanning; agitation of the air.
glosses: Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
examples: text: The oxen likewise and the yong asses that eare the ground, shall eate cleane prouender which hath bene winnowed with the shouell and with the fanne.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 30:24:
text: Whose fanne is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floore, and gather his wheat into the garner: but wil burne vp the chaffe with vnquenchable fire.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 3:12:
glosses: An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
glosses: A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: A section of a tree having a finite number of branches
Synonyms: word: admirer
word: aficionado
word: buff
word: connoisseur
word: enthusiast
word: devotee
word: maniac
word: fan
word: fanatic
word: fancier
word: fancy
word: fiend
word: freak
word: geek
word: junkie
word: partisan
word: rooter
word: zealot
Hypernyms: word: follower
word: person
Hyponyms: word: alluvial fan
word: case fan
word: ceiling fan
word: cooling fan
word: desk fan
word: dress fan
word: ducted fan
word: exhaust fan
word: extractor fan
word: fart fan
word: finger fan
word: firefan
word: fire fan
word: hand fan
word: open fan
word: overhead fan
word: pedestal fan
word: propfan
word: Rhenish fan
word: sea fan
word: subfan
word: submarine fan
word: tailfan
word: tilt fan
word: trifan
word: turbofan
word: unducted fan
word: walking fan
word: wall fan
word: winnowing fan
word: fan of fiction
word: sports fan
word: fanboy
word: fangirl
word: fantard
word: Beatlemaniac
word: Belieber
word: dittohead
word: Juggalo
word: Juggalette
word: Mameluke
word: Mansonite
word: megafan
word: Numanoid
word: otaku
word: stan
word: superfan
word: trash
word: trufan
word: uberfan
Derived terms: fan-assisted oven
fanback
fanbearer
fanbelt
fan belt
fan blade
fan-blast
fanboat
fan camera
fan car
fan coral
fan dance
fan death
fanflower
fanfold
fanfoot
fan-foot
fanglomerate
fan heater
fan-in-fin
fanjet
fanleaf
fanlike
fan lobster
fanmaker
fanmaking
fan marker
fan mussel
fan-nerved
fan out
fan oven
fan palm
fanpetal
fan-shaped
fan sign
fanskate
fantailed
fan-tailed
fan tracery
fan-veined
fanweed
fan-wheel
fanwise
fanwort
fanwright
hit the fan
red-fan parrot
the shit has hit the fan
Related terms: word: groupie
word: Beatlemania
word: addict