Span
See also: span, SPAN, spàn, spân, spãn, špan, and Spāņ
English
Etymology
- As a Slovene surname, from župan (“head of a district”), from župa (“district”); compare Zupan.
- As a German surname, variant of Spahn; also Spann.
- As a Jewish surname from Span (“chip”) (probably through Yiddish).
Proper noun
Span (plural Spans)
- A surname.
Further reading
- Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Span”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
- Forebears
German
Etymology
From Middle High German spān, from Old High German spān (“chip of wood, shaving”), from Proto-West Germanic *spānu (“chip, shaving”). Cognate with Old English spōn (“piece of wood, chip”). More at spoon.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃpaːn/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -aːn
Noun
Span m (strong, genitive Spanes or Spans, plural Späne)
- chip; shaving; clipping (small, usually flat, cut-off piece)
Declension
Declension of Span [masculine, strong]
| singular | plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
| nominative | ein | der | Span | die | Späne |
| genitive | eines | des | Spanes, Spans | der | Späne |
| dative | einem | dem | Span, Spane1 | den | Spänen |
| accusative | einen | den | Span | die | Späne |
1Now uncommon, see notes.
Derived terms
- Holzspan
- Metallspan
- wo gehobelt wird, da fallen Späne
Further reading
- “Span” in Duden online
- “Span” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache