tan1
n.
- a yellowish-brown colour.
- a golden-brown shade of skin developed by pale-skinned people after exposure to the sun.
-
(also tanbark)
bark of oak or other trees, bruised and used as a source of tannin for converting hides into leather.
▸
(also spent tan)
such bark from which the tannin has been extracted, used for covering paths and in gardening.
v.
(tans, tanning, tanned)
-
[often as adj. tanned]
acquire or cause to acquire a suntan.
- convert (animal skin) into leather, especially by soaking in a liquid containing tannic acid.
- informal, dated beat (someone) as a punishment.
adj.
N. Amer. having a suntan.
Derivative
- tannable adj.
- tannish adj.
Etymology
OE tannian ‘convert into leather’, prob. from med. L. tannare, perh. of Celtic origin; reinforced in ME by OFr. tanner.