van

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of van in English

English Online Dictionary. What means van‎? What does van mean?

Translingual

Symbol

van

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

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Short for caravan.

Noun

van (plural vans)

A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and 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
(British) An enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van.
(dated) A light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.
(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)

(transitive) To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).
(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

Etymology 2

Shortening of vanguard.

Noun

van (plural vans)

Clipping of vanguard.

Etymology 3

From Cornish.

Noun

van (plural vans)

(mining) A shovel used in cleansing ore.

Verb

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

(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)

A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.
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

of
from

Particle

van

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

Antillean Creole

Etymology

From French vent.

Noun

van

air
wind
breath
intestinal gas

Catalan

Alternative forms

varen (auxiliary)
vanen (Alghero, main verb)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈban]
IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈvan]

Verb

van

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

Chinese

Alternative forms

灣 / 湾 (wān), 𨋍

Etymology

From English van.

Pronunciation

Noun

van

(Hong Kong Cantonese, often in compounds) van; minibus; vehicle (Classifier: 架 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

(archaic, poetic) breeze (light, gentle wind)

Declension

Related terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

van f

genitive plural of vana

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)

one of the Vanir

Inflection

Etymology 2

From English van.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vaːn/, [væːn]

Noun

van c (singular definite vanen, plural indefinite vaner)

Inflection

Etymology 3

From Old Norse vanr (“wont, accustomed”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /van/, [van]

Adverb

van

(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

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

Declension

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

of, from
Ik neem er tien van. — I’ll take ten of them.
from
Ik vertrek van daar. — I’ll start from there.
by, from
Ik word er gek van. — It drives me crazy.

Men wordt daar sloom van. — It turns one numb.
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)

a surname or nickname beginning with the preposition van
any surname
Synonyms: achternaam, familienaam

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vɑ̃/

Etymology 1

Latin vannus

Noun

van m (plural vans)

a winnowing basket

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English van.

Noun

van m (plural vans)

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

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)

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

Noun

van m (plural vans)

waist
empty, vacant

Derived terms

en van

Verb

van

third-person plural present indicative of ir

References

Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “vão”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “vão”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “van”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “van”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “van”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Gallo

Etymology

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

Noun

van m (plural vans)

(agriculture) winnowing machine

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French vent (“wind”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vã/

Noun

van

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 (ōluňkve), 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

(copulative) to be
Antonym: nem…

Boldog vagyok. ― I am happy.
there to be, to exist
Synonyms: létezik, található

Antonym: nincs

Van itt valaki? ― Is there anybody here?
to have; someone (-nak/-nek) has something (-a/-e/-ja/-je)
Péternek van egy kutyája. ― Peter has a dog.
to be made (out) of something (with -ból/-ből)
Synonym: készült

Ez az ajtó fából van. ― This door is made out of wood.
(auxiliary, construed with -va/-ve (adverbial participle) of the main verb) to be (indicating the statal passive)
A lakásom biztosítva van. (from biztosítva ← biztosít) ― My apartment (flat) is (has been) insured.

A probléma meg van oldva. (from megoldva ← megold) ― 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):

Iban

Etymology

Borrowed from English van.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vɛn/

Noun

van

Interlingua

Adjective

van (comparative plus van, superlative le plus van)

vain, futile
vain, worthless
vain, conceited

Italian

Adjective

van (apocopated)

Apocopic form of vano

Manx

Etymology

Borrowed from English van.

Noun

van f (genitive singular van, plural vannyn)

van (vehicle)

Synonyms

carr

Middle Dutch

Etymology

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

Preposition

van

of
from (a place, person)
from (a time)
out of
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

Mòcheno

Contraction

van

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)

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)

(Norse mythology) one of the Vanir

Etymology 3

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

Preposition

van

Used in Dutch surnames.

References

“van” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

NAV, nav

Polish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English van.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvan/
Rhymes: -an
Syllabification: van

Noun

van m inan

van (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)
Synonym: pojazd wielozadaniowy

Hyponym: minivan

Declension

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English van.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

van f (plural vans)

(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)

vain
futile
idle
fruitless
vainglorious

Declension

Derived terms

în van

Related terms

vanitate

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *vъnъ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʋân/

Conjunction

vȁn (Cyrillic spelling ва̏н)

except

Preposition

vȁn (Cyrillic spelling ва̏н) (+ genitive case)

outside, out
van kuće ― outside, outdoors
out of
van zemlje ― abroad

Adverb

vȃn (Cyrillic spelling ва̑н)

out, outside, outdoors

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English van.

Noun

van m (plural vanes)

van (vehicle)

Etymology 2

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

Verb

van

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)

accustomed to, used to, having the habit to
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/ [ˈvan̪]
- IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ˈban/ [ˈban̪]
Rhymes: -an
Syllabification: van

Noun

van (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜈ᜔)

van (covered vehicle)

Vietnamese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [vaːn˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [vaːŋ˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [vaːŋ˧˧] ~ [jaːŋ˧˧]

Verb

van • (𠹚, 喛)

to beg, to implore

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French valve.

Noun

(classifier cái) van

valve

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French valse.

Noun

van

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

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

heaven, sky

References

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

van

van

Translingual

Symbol

See also

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

Etymology 3

Noun

Verb

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Noun

Related terms

References

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

Pronunciation

Preposition

See also

Particle

Antillean Creole

Etymology

Noun

Catalan

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Verb

Chinese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Czech

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Further reading

Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Adverb

Usage notes

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Preposition

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

Adverb

Derived terms

Noun

See also

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1