khan

khan

See also: Khan, khán, khàn, and khăn

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑːn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand, Received Pronunciation) Homophone: carn
• (US) Homophone: con
• Rhymes: -ɑːn, -ɒn

Etymology 1

Via late Middle English can, chan from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan.[1] Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰴𐰍𐰣‎ (qaɣan), and Mongolian хаан (xaan).

• Sense 1 (ruler in the Middle Ages) after Genghis Khan, from Middle Mongol ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan).

Noun

khan (plural khans)

1. (historical) A ruler over various Turkish, Tatar and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages.
2. An Ottoman sultan.
3. A noble or man of rank in various Muslim countries of Central Asia, including Afghanistan.

Synonyms

• khakan

Derived terms

• khanate

Translations

a ruler over various Turkic, Tatar and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages

Arabic: خَان‎ m (ḵān) Armenian: խան (hy) (xan) Azerbaijani: xan, xaqan Bashkir: хан (xan) Belarusian: хан m (xan) Bengali: খান (bn) (khan) Bulgarian: кан m (kan), хан (bg) m (han) Catalan: kan (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 可汗 (zh) (kèhán), 汗 (zh) (hán) (as a suffix only) Chuvash: хан (han) Crimean Tatar: han Czech: chán m Danish: khan c Dutch: khan (nl) m, kan (nl) m Esperanto: ĥano Estonian: khaan Finnish: kaani (fi) French: khan (fr) m Galician: khan (gl) m, can (gl) m Georgian: ხანი (xani), ყაენი (q̇aeni) German: Chan (de) m, Khan (de) m Greek: χάνος (el) m (chános) Ancient: χαγᾶνος m (khagânos) Hebrew: חַאן‎ m (khan) Hindi: खान (hi) m (khān), खन (hi) m (khan), ख़ान m (xān), ख़ागान m (xāgān), ख़ाक़ान m (xāqān) Hungarian: kán (hu) Ido: khan (io) Italian: khan m Japanese: カーン (kān), 汗 (ja) (かん, kan), ハーン (hān), カガン (kagan) Kalmyk: хаан (haan) Kazakh: хан (xan), қаған (qağan) Khmer: ខាន់ (km) (khan) Korean: 칸 (ko) (kan), 가한 (gahan), 카간 (kagan) Kyrgyz: хан (ky) (han), каган (kagan) Latvian: hans m Lithuanian: chanas m Macedonian: кан m (kan), хан m (han) Manchu: ᡥᠠᠨ (han) Marathi: खान m (khāna) Mongolian: Cyrillic: хаан (mn) (xaan), хан (mn) (xan) Mongolian: ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan) Norwegian: Bokmål: khan m Oriya: please add this translation if you can Persian: خان‎ (fa) (xân), خاقان‎ (fa) (xâqân) Polish: chan (pl) m, kagan (pl) m Portuguese: cã (pt) m, cão (pt) m Romanian: han (ro) m Russian: хан (ru) m (xan), кага́н (ru) m (kagán) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ка̑н m Roman: kȃn (sh) m Shor: қаан Slovak: chán m Slovene: kan (sl) m Spanish: kan (es) m Swedish: khan (sv) Tajik: хон (tg) (xon) Tamil: கான் (ta) (kāṉ) Tatar: хан (tt) (xan), каган (tt) (qağan) Tofa: һаан (haan) Turkish: han (tr), kağan (tr), hakan (tr) Ukrainian: хан (uk) m (xan), кага́н m (kahán) Urdu: خان‎ m (xān), خاقان‎ m (xāqān) Uyghur: خان‎ (xan) Uzbek: xon (uz), xoqon (uz) Vietnamese: hãn, khả hãn

an Ottoman sultan

Ido: khan (io)

a noble man in various Muslim countries

Ido: khan (io)

Etymology 2

From Persian خان‎ (xân, “caravanserai”).

Noun

khan (plural khans)

1. A caravanserai; a resting-place for a travelling caravan.
   • 1923, Powys Mathers, translating The Thousand Nights and One Night:

     ‘Guess the name of that,’ she said, pointing to her delicate parts. The porter tried this name and that and ended by asking her to tell him and cease her slapping. ‘The khān of Abu-Mansur,’ she replied.

   • 1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, page 27:

     At each of these stations there is a hostelry which they call a khan, where travellers alight with their beasts, and outside each khan is a public watering-place and a shop at which the traveller may buy what he requires for himself and his beast.

See also

• caravanserai

References

1. The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Clarendon Press, 1989.

Anagrams

• Hank, Kahn, Nakh, ankh, hank

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Atong (India)

Etymology 1

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

Noun

khan

1. cassava, tapioca

Etymology 2

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

Classifier

khan

1. (classifier for objects like log-boats)

References

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

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Catalan

Etymology

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, caanus, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (xān, “Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. khan

References

1. “khan”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

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Dongxiang

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *gal, perhaps related to Proto-Tungusic *gụl-.

Compare Mongolian гал (gal), Evenki гулдай (guldaj, “to light, kindle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qʰaŋ/, [qʰɑ̃(ŋ)]

Noun

khan

1. fire

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Dutch

Alternative forms

• kan

Etymology

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, caanus, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (xān, “Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaːn/
• Hyphenation: khan
• Rhymes: -aːn

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. (historical) A khan (Turkic, Tatar or Mongolic ruler).
2. A khan (nobleman in various Central Asian countries).

Derived terms

• khanaat

References

1. “khan”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

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French

Etymology

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, caanus, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (xān, “Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

Noun

khan m (uncountable)

1. khan

References

1. “khan”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Further reading

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

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Italian

Alternative forms

• can (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (xān, “Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkan/
• Rhymes: -an
• Hyphenation: khàn

Noun

khan m (invariable)

1. khan

Derived terms

• khanato

References

1. “khan”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• (non-standard since 2005) kan

Etymology

From Turkic.

Noun

khan m (definite singular khanen, indefinite plural khanar, definite plural khanane)

1. khan

References

• “khan” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Portuguese

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. Alternative spelling of cã

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Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xaːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰaːŋ˧˧] ~ [xaːŋ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kʰaːŋ˧˧] ~ [xaːŋ˧˧]

Adjective

khan

1. dried up; dry
2. rare; scarce

Derived terms

• khan hiếm
• khô khan

 

Adjective

khan

1. hoarse; husky