san

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

Translingual

Symbol

san

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Sanskrit.

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Sanskrit terms

English

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek σάν (sán), from Semitic.

Noun

san (plural sans)

1. A letter of the Archaic Greek alphabet (uppercase Ϻ, lowercase ϻ) that came after pi and before qoppa.

Translations

See also

• sigma
• San (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Shortening of sanatorium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Noun

san (plural sans)

1. (dated, informal) A sanatorium.

See also

• eco-san
• san fairy ann (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams

• ANS, NAS, NAs, NSA, SNA, ans, ans.

Afar

Etymology

From Proto-Cushitic *ʔisŋʷ-. Cognates include Hadiyya sane, Oromo funyaan, Sidamo sano, Somali san and Saho san.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsan/ [ˈsʌn]
• Hyphenation: san

Noun

sán m (plural sanitté f or sanwá f)

1. nose

References

• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[1], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 61

Atong (India)

Etymology

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

Noun

san

1. day

References

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Noun

san f (plural sans)

1. San; the Archaic Greek letter Ϻ (lowercase ϻ)

Classical Nahuatl

Particle

san

1. Alternative spelling of zan

Cypriot Arabic

Etymology

From the diminutive of Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

san f (plural sanát)

1. tongue
2. language

Derived terms

References

• Borg, Alexander (2004) A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies; I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 417

Dongxiang

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *sam, compare Mongolian сам (sam).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑŋ/

Noun

san

1. comb

Dutch

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σάν (sán).

Noun

san c (plural san's, diminutive sannetje n)

1. san (archaic Greek letter)

Further reading

• san (letter) on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Finnish

Etymology

< Ancient Greek σάν (sán)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑn/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝n]
• Rhymes: -ɑn
• Hyphenation^(key): san

Noun

san

1. san (letter in Ancient Greek alphabet)

Declension

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sānus.

Adjective

san (feminine sana, masculine plural sans, feminine plural sanes) (ORB, broad)

1. healthy

Derived terms

• santât

References

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

French

Pronunciation 1

• IPA^(key): /san/

Noun

san m (plural san)

1. san (Greek letter)

Pronunciation 2

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃/
• Homophones: cent, cents, sang, sangs, sans, sens, sent

Etymology

Blend of son +‎ sa.

Determiner

san n (singular, plural ses)

1. (gender-neutral, neologism) his, her, their, its

Related terms

See also

• iel
• man
• tan

Anagrams

• ans

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin sānus.

Adjective

san

1. healthy, sound

Related terms

• sanetât

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaŋ/ [ˈs̺ɑŋ]
• Rhymes: -aŋ

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese san, from Latin sanctus. Cognate with Portuguese são and Spanish san.

Alternative forms

• San

Adjective

san m (apocopate, standard form santo)

1. (before nouns which began by a consonant) Apocopic form of santo (“saint”)

Etymology 2

From Old Galician-Portuguese são (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin sānus. Cognate with Portuguese são and Spanish sano.

Alternative forms

• sao

Adjective

san (feminine sa, masculine plural sans, feminine plural sas)

1. healthy, sound

Related terms

• sandar

References

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

Garifuna

Etymology

Probably from French cent.

Numeral

san

1. hundred

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sã/

Etymology 1

From French cent (“hundred”).

Numeral

san

1. hundred

Etymology 2

From French sang (“blood”).

Noun

san

1. blood

Hokkien

Irish

Etymology 1

From Middle Irish (i)sind, (i)sin, from Old Irish isin(d/t) (“in the m or f or n sg dative”), isin (“into the m or f sg accusative”), isa (“into the n sg accusative”), from Proto-Celtic *in sindū/sindai (“in the m sg/f sg dative”), *in sindom/sindam (“into the m sg/f sg accusative”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˠən̪ˠ/, /sˠənˠ/ (before a, o, u, fha, fho, fhu)
• IPA^(key): /sˠənʲ/ (before e, i, fhe, fhi)

Contraction

san

1. preposition i + definite article an: in the (singular)

Usage notes

Used before vowel sounds and f (which lenites); (otherwise, sa is used):

• san amhrán ― in the song
• san fhocal ― in the word

Often understood to be a contraction of ins an, but the forms san, sa were in common use by the 12th century and accepted in Classical Gaelic poetry while ins is a later innovation with the -n- reintroduced by analogy.

Related terms

Further reading

• Osborn Bergin (1916) “Irish Grammatical Tracts (Introductory)”, in Ériu, volume 8, Supplement, Royal Irish Academy, →DOI, →JSTOR, §67, page 17
• McKenna, Lambert, editor (1944), Bardic Syntactical Tracts, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, page 113: “Before pl. art. i n- gives is na, ’sna; in such cases a h- gives as na. (…) Before sg. art. i n- is isin, san (often sa before consonants).”
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “i”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “san”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “san”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˠən̪ˠ/, /sˠənˠ/

Determiner

san

1. (nonstandard) Alternative form of sin (“that”) (used after a broad consonant)

   an fear san ― that man (standard: an fear sin)

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsan/
• Rhymes: -an
• Hyphenation: sàn

Etymology 1

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

Noun

san m or f (uncountable)

1. san (Greek letter)

Etymology 2

• see santo

Noun

san m (apocopated)

1. (used before a consonant) Apocopic form of santo saint

   San Pietro ― Saint Peter

See also

• sant', santo

Japanese

Romanization

san

1. Rōmaji transcription of さん
2. Rōmaji transcription of サン

Karaim

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *sā-. Compare to Turkish san, Southern Altai сагыш (sagïš), etc.

Noun

san

1. number

References

• N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “san”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Khasi

Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *san. Compare Pnar san, Lyngngam san, War-Jaintia san.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /san/

Numeral

san

1. five

Verb

san

1. to grow up

References

• Singh, U Nissor (1906) Khasi-English dictionary‎^[2], Shillong: Eastern Bengal and Assam Secretariat Press, page 183. Searchable online at SEAlang.net.

Kuna

Noun

san

1. meat

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to Italian sano, from Latin sanus.

Adjective

san

1. healthy

Mandarin

Romanization

san (san⁵ / san⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄙㄢ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 𠮿

san

1. Nonstandard spelling of sān.
2. Nonstandard spelling of sǎn.
3. Nonstandard spelling of sàn.

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

A contracted form of earlier sægen, from Old English sæċġan, alternative form of seċġan.

Verb

sãn

1. Alternative form of seien

Etymology 2

From Old French san, alternative form of senz.

Preposition

san

1. Alternative form of saunz

Norman

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin sum, from Classical Latin suum.

Pronunciation

Determiner

san m

1. (Jersey) his, her, its (used to qualify masculine nouns)

North Frisian

Etymology 1

From Old Frisian sunne f. Cognates include West Frisian sinne. The change of gender in Föhr-Amrum dialect has to do with the general merger of the feminine into the neuter, during which process a number of feminines became masculine instead.

Noun

san m or f

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) sun

   A san gungt up. ― The sun rises.

   A san gungt oner. ― The sun sets.

Usage notes

• Masculine on Föhr and Amrum, feminine in Mooring.

Alternative forms

• Sen (Sylt)

Etymology 2

From Old Frisian sīn.

Determiner

san (feminine and neuter sin, plural sin)

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) his (third-person singular masculine possessive determiner)
2. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) its (third-person singular neuter posssessive determiner)
3. (Föhr-Amrum) her (third-person singular feminine possessive determiner)

Alternative forms

• (her): harn (Mooring), höör (Sylt)

Pronoun

san (feminine and neuter sin, plural (Föhr-Amrum) sinen or (Mooring) sin)

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) his (third-person singular masculine possessive pronoun)
2. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) its (third-person singular neuter posssessive pronoun)
3. (Föhr-Amrum) hers (third-person singular feminine possessive pronoun)

Alternative forms

• (her): harn (Mooring), höör (Sylt)

See also

Etymology 3

Derived from the third-person plural and subjunctive of the present of Old Frisian wesa. Compare Old English sind, Dutch zijn, German sein, sind.

Verb

san

1. (Föhr-Amrum) first-person singular present of wees
2. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) plural present of wees(e)

Alternative forms

• (1st person): ban (Mooring), sen (Sylt)
• (plural): sen (Sylt)

Old Czech

Alternative forms

• saň, saně

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sanь.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈsan/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈsan/

Noun

san f or m animal

1. dragon

   Synonym: drak

Declension

Related terms

Descendants

• Czech: saň

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “san”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old French

Noun

san oblique singular, m (oblique plural sans, nominative singular sans, nominative plural san)

1. Alternative form of sens

Pali

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit श्वन् (śvan).

Noun

san m

1. dog

Declension

Only consensus forms are shown.

Descendants

• → Thai: สา (sǎa)

References

• Pali Text Society (1921–1925) “san”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

Pnar

Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *san, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *suun ~ *suən ~ *sən; cognate with Khasi san, Mang han², Mon မသုန် (pəsɔn) and Proto-Palaungic *pəsan (whence Riang [Lang] kʰan¹ and Danau θʊn⁴).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /san/

Numeral

san

1. (cardinal number) five

Rohingya

Alternative forms

• 𐴏𐴝𐴕 (san) — Hanifi Rohingya script

Etymology

From Sanskrit चन्द्र (candra); cognate with Bengali চাঁদ (cãd).

Noun

san (Hanifi spelling 𐴏𐴝𐴕)

1. moon

Romani

Verb

san

1. second-person singular present indicative of si

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish (i)sind, (i)sin, from Old Irish isin(d/t) (“in the m or f or n sg dative”), isin (“into the m or f sg accusative”), isa (“into the n sg accusative”).

Preposition

san

1. in the

   san anmoch ― in the evening

   san fhad-ùine ― in the long run

   san t-seanchas ― in conversation

   san achadh bhuan ― in the harvest field

Usage notes

• This form is not used before nouns beginning with b, c, g, m or p, where sa is used instead.
• If followed by f, the f is lenited:

  facal - word,

  san fhacal - in the word.

• Often understood to be a contraction of anns an, but the forms san, sa were in common use by the 12th century and accepted in Classical Gaelic poetry while anns is a later innovation with the -n- reintroduced by analogy.

Related terms

• ann an
• anns

References

• Osborn Bergin (1916) “Irish Grammatical Tracts (Introductory)”, in Ériu, volume 8, Supplement, Royal Irish Academy, →DOI, →JSTOR, §67, page 17
• McKenna, Lambert, editor (1944), Bardic Syntactical Tracts, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, page 113: “Before pl. art. i n- gives is na, ’sna; in such cases a h- gives as na. (…) Before sg. art. i n- is isin, san (often sa before consonants).”
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “i”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sъ̀nъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *súpnas, from Proto-Indo-European *supnós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sân/

Noun

sȁn m (Cyrillic spelling са̏н)

1. sleep
2. dream

   Šta si videla u tom snu? ― What did you see in that dream?

Declension

Derived terms

References

• “san”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Somali

Etymology

From Proto-Cushitic *ʔisŋʷ-. Cognates include Afar san, Hadiyya sane, Oromo funyaan, Saho san and Sidamo sano.

Noun

san ?

1. nose

References

• san Afmaal Somali-English Dictionary.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsan/ [ˈsãn]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: san

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• San (in proper nouns, capitalized)

Noun

san m (plural sanes)

1. (Dominican Republic) financial, temporal-savings scheme; the participants periodically contribute a quota to a communal pot that is given to one member, based on his/her turn amongst all the others

Adjective

san m (apocopate, standard form santo)

1. (before the noun) Apocopic form of santo (“saint”)

Usage notes

• Not used in front names beginning with To- or Do- syllables like Tomás, Tomé, Toribio, and Domingo. Santo is used instead.

Etymology 2

Noun

san f (plural sanes)

1. san; the Greek letter M, ϻ

Further reading

• “san”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsan/ [ˈsan̪]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: san

Pronoun

san (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜈ᜔)

1. Informal form of saan.

Tatar

Noun

san

1. number
2. shin, hind leg
3. limb

Ter Sami

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian са́ни (sáni).

Noun

san

1. sledge, sleigh

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[4], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English sun.

Noun

san

1. sun

Derived terms

• sankamap

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English sun.

Noun

san

1. sun

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish صان (san), a derivation from Proto-Turkic *sā- (“to count”). Related to say- (“to count”) and san- (“to consider”).

Noun

san (definite accusative sanı, plural sanlar)

1. name
2. reputation

Declension

Derived terms

• ad san

Related terms

• saymak
• sanmak

Further reading

• “san”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin sanus.

Adjective

san

1. healthy

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [saːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂaːŋ˧˧] ~ [saːŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂaːŋ˧˧] ~ [saːŋ˧˧]

Verb

san • (刊, 刪, 删, 湌, 鏟)

1. to flatten
2. to make equal

Derived terms

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Cognate with Igala ra

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sã̄/

Verb

san

1. to pay

   Ó ti san owó orí ìyàwó. ― He has paid the bride price.

Derived terms

• sanwó

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sã̀/

Verb

sàn

1. to be good; to be well

   Synonyms: dára, yááyì

   Ó sàn kí a sinmi. ― It's good that we rest.

2. to heal

   Ọgbẹ́ ti sàn. ― The wound has healed.

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sã́/

Verb

sán

1. (with àrá (“thunder”)) to thunder

   Àrá ń sán. ― Thunder is striking.

Etymology 4

Compare Nupe sán (“to split; to ache (head)”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sã́/

Verb

sán

1. to crack; to split

   Òkúta ti sán. ― The rock has split.

2. (with orí (“head”)) to ache

   Synonym: fọ́

   Orí ń sán mi. ― My head is aching me.

Zhuang

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *saːn. Cognate with Thai สาน (sǎan), Northern Thai ᩈᩣ᩠ᨶ, Lao ສານ (sān), Lü ᦉᦱᧃ (ṡaan), Khün ᩈᩣ᩠ᨶ, Shan သၢၼ် (sǎan), Ahom 𑜏𑜃𑜫 (san).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θaːn˨˦/
• Tone numbers: san¹
• Hyphenation: san

Verb

san (1957–1982 spelling san)

1. to weave