scan
English
Etymology
From late Middle English scanne (“to mark off verse to show metrical structure”), from earlier scanden, from Late Latin scandere (“to scan verse”), from Classical Latin scandō (“I climb, rise, mount”), from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump, dart, climb, scale, scan”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /skæn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æn
Verb
scan (third-person singular simple present scans, present participle scanning, simple past and past participle scanned)
- (transitive) To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely. [from 16th C.]
- She scanned the passage carefully but could not find what she was looking for.
- 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter ii:
- Yet the incident did not in the least diminish my respect for my teacher. I was by nature blind to the faults of elders. Later I came to know of many other failings of this teacher, but my regard for him remained the same. For I had learnt to carry out the orders of elders, not to scan their actions.
- 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
- As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.
- (transitive) To look about for; to look over quickly. [from 19th C.]
- He scanned the horizon.
- (computing, transitive) To inspect, analyse or go over, often to find something.
- to scan the hard drive for errors
- (computing, transitive) To perform lexical analysis; to tokenize.
- (computing, medicine, transitive) To create an image of something with the use of a scanner.
- to scan a photograph
- to scan internal organs by means of computed tomography
- Pencil drawings don't scan very well.
- (computing, transitive) To read with an electronic device.
- to scan a barcode
- to scan a QR code
- (obsolete, transitive, originally) To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
- 1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: Printed for John Murray, […], OCLC 1015450009, stanza LXIII, page 36:
- But ere these matchless heights I dare to scan, / There is a spot should not be pass'd in vain,— / Morat ! the proud, the patriot field ! where man / May gaze on ghastly trophies of the slain, […]
-
- (poetry, transitive) To read or mark so as to show a specific metre. [from 14th C.]
- to scan verse
- (intransitive) To conform to a metrical structure.
- 1998, Milton Acorn, Cedric Smith, James Deahl, editor, The Road to Charlottetown: A Play, UnMon Northland:
- You're right, sir, it doesn't scan very well in the English, but in the Gaelic it's sheer poetry. Have you the Gaelic?
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Usage notes
- The contranym status of the word is discussed at peruse § Usage notes.
Derived terms
- forescan
Related terms
- (poetry): scansion
Translations
to examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely
|
to look about for; to look over quickly
|
computing: to inspect, analyse or go over, often to find something
|
create an image of something with the use of a scanner
|
to read with an electronic device
|
to read or mark so as to show a specific metre
|
to conform to a metrical structure
|
Noun
scan (plural scans)
- Close investigation. [from 1700s]
- (computing) An instance of scanning.
- The operators vacated the room during the scan.
- (computing) The result or output of a scanning process.
- The doctors looked at the scans and made a diagnosis.
Translations
instance of scanning
|
result or output of a scanning process
|
See also
- pan and scan
- scanlate
- scanlation
- scanlator
- scanner
Further reading
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “scan”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- scan in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- scan in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- scan at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- ANCs, CNAs, CNSA, NCSA, NSCA, cans
Romanian
Noun
scan m (plural scani)
- Obsolete form of scaun.
Declension
Declension of scan
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) scan | scanul | (niște) scani | scanii |
| genitive/dative | (unui) scan | scanului | (unor) scani | scanilor |
| vocative | scanule | scanilor | ||
References
- scan in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN