gan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "gan"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡæn/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

Etymology 1

Perhaps connected with Middle English gane, or possibly from Welsh geneu, Cornish ganau (“mouth”).

Alternative forms

• ganns, gans

Noun

gan (uncountable)

1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Mouth.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode ]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part , [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4300 Chapter III/mode/1up page Chapter III]:

     White thy fambles, red thy gan
     And thy quarrons dainty is.
     Couch a hogshead with me then.
     In the darkmans clip and kiss.

Etymology 2

Verb

gan

1. (archaic) simple past of gin

Etymology 3

Probably a variant of gang, from Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to step; walk; go”).

Alternative forms

• gang

Verb

gan (third-person singular simple present gans, present participle gannin, simple past went, past participle gone)

1. (Northumbria) To go.
   • 2011, Chris Dockerty, Ramblings of a Geordie:

     The one problem I had here was my broad Geordie accent which the teachers tried their hardest to make me lose. I couldn't understand their problem with it because I could understand myself. Whenever I told them, "Am gannin yem", they would say, "No, Christopher. It's not "am gannin yem", it's "I am going home".

Further reading

• Frank Graham, editor (1987), “GAN”, in The New Geordie Dictionary, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing, →ISBN.
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “gan”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[2], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[3]
• “Gan”, in Palgrave’s Word List: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[4], archived from the original on 2024-09-05, from F[rancis] M[ilnes] T[emple] Palgrave, A List of Words and Phrases in Everyday Use by the Natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham […] (Publications of the English Dialect Society; 74), London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1896, →OCLC.
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
• Template:R:Northeast Dialect 2005

Anagrams

• AGN, ANG, GNA, NGA, nag

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Antillean Creole

Etymology

From French gant.

Noun

gan

1. glove

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Bambara

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡã˦]

Verb

gan

1. to jump

Etymology 2

Adjective

gan

1. hot

Verb

gan

1. (transitive) to heat up

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

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Dharug

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ŋan/

Noun

gan

1. reptile
2. (specifically) goanna

References

• Jakelin Troy (1993) The Sydney Language, Canberra, →ISBN, page 53

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Dutch Low Saxon

Verb

gan

1. Alternative spelling of gaon

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Garo

Etymology

Borrowed from Bengali গান (gan).

Noun

gan

1. song

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cen (“besides; without”), from Proto-Celtic *kina (“on this side of”); compare Middle Welsh am-gen (“otherwise”), Breton ken (“otherwise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡən̪ˠ/
• IPA^(key): /ɡɑn̪ˠ/
• IPA^(key): /ɡan̪ˠ/

Preposition

gan (plus nominative, triggers no mutation in specific references but lenition in general references)

1. without
2. not (in conjunction with a verbal noun)

Usage notes

• In standardised Irish, triggers lenition (except of d, s, t) of unmodified nouns, e.g. gan phingin (“without a penny”). Does not trigger lenition of modified nouns, e.g. gan pingin ina phóca (“without a penny in his pocket”). In the meaning ‘not’, does not trigger lenition of either a verbal noun or on the direct object of the verbal noun, e.g. gan ceannach ("not to buy"), gan pingin a shaothrú ("not to earn a penny").

Derived terms

• gan áireamh (“countless, incalculable”)
• gan aithne gan urlabhra (“comatose; dead”)
• gan amhras (“undoubtedly”)
• gan aon agó (“undoubtedly”)
• gan bhail (“invalid, void”)
• gan bheartú (“unpremeditated”)
• gan bhlas (“flavourless”)
• gan bhogadh (“still, impassive”)
• gan bhréag gan áibhéil (“in plain fact”)
• gan cháim (“flawless”)
• gan choinne (“unexpected(ly)”)
• gan choinníoll (“unconditional(ly)”)
• gan chor (“motionless”)
• gan chuimhneamh (“inadvertently”)
• gan chuimse (“limitless”)
• gan chumas, gan mhaith, gan bhrí (“impotent”)
• gan dícheall (“without fail”)
• gan doic (“unhesitatingly”)
• gan dua (“effortless(ly)”)
• gan dúshraith (“baseless”)
• gan éifeacht (“inefficient”)
• gan éislis (“without fail”)
• gan fáth gan ábhar (“for no reason whatever”)
• gan fheiceáil (“unseen”)
• gan fhios (“unknown; secretly”)
• gan locht (“blameless”)
• gan mhuinchillí (“sleeveless”)
• gan mórán achair (“shortly”)
• gan on (“faultless, unblemished”)

 

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “gan”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cen”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “gan”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “gan”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 21

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Japanese

Romanization

gan

1. Rōmaji transcription of がん
2. Rōmaji transcription of ガン

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Latvian

Conjunction

gan

1. both, and

Usage notes

Used in pairs: gan jauna, gan skaista "both young and beautiful"

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Mandarin

Romanization

gan

1. Nonstandard spelling of gān.
2. Nonstandard spelling of gǎn.
3. Nonstandard spelling of gàn.

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.

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English ġeġn.

Preposition

gan

1. Alternative form of gain (“against”)

Etymology 2

From Old English gān.

Verb

gan

1. (Early Middle English, Northern) Alternative form of gon (“to go”)

Etymology 3

From Old English gān, ġegān.

Verb

gan

1. Alternative form of gon (“gone”)

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Northern Kurdish

Verb

gan (present stem -gê-)

1. to have sexual intercourse with somebody, to fuck somebody

Noun

gan ?

1. having sex, fucking

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Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Verb

gān

1. to go

Inflection

Conjugation of {{{head}}} ({{{conj_type}}})

infinitive	{{{head}}}
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}o {{{sep}}}, {{{pref}}}{{{1}}}on {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}} {{{sep}}}
2nd person singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}is {{{sep}}}, {{{pref}}}{{{1}}}ist {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}i {{{sep}}}, {{{pref}}}{{{1}}}is {{{sep}}}
3rd person singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}it {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}} {{{sep}}}
1st person plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}on {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}un {{{sep}}}
2nd person plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}et {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}ut {{{sep}}}
3rd person plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}ont {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}un {{{sep}}}
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}e {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}i {{{sep}}}
2nd person singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}es {{{sep}}}, {{{pref}}}{{{1}}}est {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}i {{{sep}}}, {{{pref}}}{{{1}}}is {{{sep}}}
3rd person singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}e {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}i {{{sep}}}
1st person plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}en {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}in {{{sep}}}
2nd person plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}et {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}it {{{sep}}}
3rd person plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}en {{{sep}}}	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}in {{{sep}}}
imperative	present
singular	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}} {{{sep}}}
plural	{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}et {{{sep}}}
participle	present	past
	{{{sep}}}{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}andi	{{{sep}}}{{{pref}}}{{{1}}}an

[[Category:Old Dutch separable verbs with {{{sep}}}|GAN]][[Category:Old Dutch verbs prefixed with {{{pref}}}-|GAN]][[Category:Old Dutch class {{{class}}} strong verbs|GAN]]

Derived terms

• anagān
• antgān
• bigān
• fargān

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: gâen
  • Dutch: gaan
    • Afrikaans: gaan
    • Javindo: ha, haat
    • Jersey Dutch: xân, xâne
    • Petjo: gaan, haan
  • Limburgish: gaon

Further reading

• “gān”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

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Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”). The verb was defective in Germanic and may only have existed in the present tense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑːn/

Verb

gān

1. to go
2. to walk
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Sē wer meahte unēaðe þurh hine selfne ārīsan oþþe gān.

     The man could barely get up or walk by himself.

Usage notes

• The expected present participle, gānde, is very rare. Instead gangende is almost always used, from the synonym gangan: Līf nis būtan gangendu sċadu ("Life is but a walking shadow").

Conjugation

Conjugation of gān (irregular)

infinitive	gān	gānne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	gā	ēode
second person singular	gǣst	ēodest
third person singular	gǣþ	ēode
plural	gāþ	ēodon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	gā	ēode
plural	gān	ēoden
imperative
singular	gā
plural	gāþ
participle	present	past
	gānde	(ġe)gān

Synonyms

• gangan

Related terms

• gang

Derived terms

• begān
• foregān
• forgān
• forþgān
• ingān
• ofergān
• ofgān
• on hand gān
• tōgān
• þurhgān
• upgān
• wiþgān
• ymbgān
• ūtgān

 

Descendants

• Middle English: gon, gan, ga, goo, goon, go
  • English: go
  • Geordie English: gan
  • Middle Scots: go, goe, gone
    • Scots: gan, gae, ga, gang
  • Yola: goe, gow, go, goeth (influnced by Irish silent -th)

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Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Verb

gān

1. to go

Inflection

Conjugation of gān (irregular, suppletive)

infinitive	gān
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	gā	geng
2nd person singular	gēst	gengest
3rd person singular	gēth	geng
plural	gāth	gengun
subjunctive	present	past
singular	gāe	genge
plural	gāe, gāen	genge, gengen
imperative	present
singular	gā
plural	gāth
participle	present	past
	gānde, gangande	egangen, gangen

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: geen (simple past, past participle of gunge)
• West Frisian: gean

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Old Saxon

Alternative forms

• gangan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gān.

Verb

gān

1. to go

Conjugation

Conjugation of gān (irregular, suppletive)

infinitive	gān
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	*gā	gēng
2nd person singular	*gēs	gēngi
3rd person singular	gēd	gēng
plural	*gād	gēngun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	*gāe	gēngi
2nd person singular	*gāes	gēngis
3rd person singular	*gāe	gēngi
plural	*gāen	gēngin
imperative	present
singular	*gā
plural	*gād
participle	present	past
	gāndi	gigangan, gangan

Descendants

• Middle Low German: gân
  • Dutch Low Saxon: gan, gaon
  • German Low German: gahn
  • Plautdietsch: gone

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Salar

Etymology

Cognate with Turkmen gan.

Pronunciation

• (Dazhuang, Mengda, Hanbahe, Jiezi, Gaizi, Xunhua, Qinghai, Ili, Yining, Xinjiang) IPA^(key): [qɑn]
• (Ucirem(where?), Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): [qɑːn]

Noun

gan

1. blood

References

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “gan”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, page 460
• Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “gan”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 218
• 马伟 [Ma Wei], 朝克 [Chao Ke] (2014) “gan”, in 撒拉语366条会话读本 [Salar 366 Conversation Reader]‎^[5], 1^st edition, 社会科学文献出版社 [Social Science Literature Press], →ISBN, page 109
• Yakup, Abdurishid (2002) “gan”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[6], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 104

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Scots

Alternative forms

• gae, ga, gang

Etymology

From Northern Middle English gan, from Old English gān (“to go”). Past tense supplied by Old English wenden (“to wend”).

Verb

gan (third-person singular simple present gans, present participle gan, simple past went or wett, past participle been)

1. to go

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Scottish Gaelic

Pronoun

gan

1. them (direct object)

   A bheil sibh gan creidsinn? ― Do you believe them?

Usage notes

• Before words beginning with b, f, m or p gam is used instead.

Related terms

Related terms

• ga
• gad
• gam

• gar
• gur
• iad

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Sumerian

Romanization

gan

1. Romanization of 𒃶 (gan)

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Ternate

Etymology

From older gani.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡan]

Noun

gan

1. Alternative form of gani (“louse”)

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

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Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English gun.

Noun

gan

1. gun

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Turkmen

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *kiān (“blood”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaːn/

Noun

gan (definite accusative gany, plural ganlar)

1. blood

Declension

Declension of gan

	singular	plural
nominative	gan	ganlar
accusative	gany	ganlary
genitive	ganyň	ganlaryň
dative	gana	ganlara
locative	ganda	ganlarda
ablative	gandan	ganlardan

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Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *t-kaːn, from Old Chinese 肝 (OC *s.kˤa[r]) (SV: can). Cognate with Chut [Rục] təkaːn¹ ("bold").

Displaced native lòm, now only found in the compounds đỏ lòm and chua lòm.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣaːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]

• Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City):

  (file)

Noun

(classifier lá) gan

1. (anatomy) a liver
2. (figurative) audacity; gall; balls

   to gan ― audacious

   nhát gan / gan thỏ đế ― chicken

Noun

(classifier cây) gan

1. (botany) Malus doumeri

   Synonym: sơn tra

Adjective

gan

1. hepatic
2. courageous, brave, tough

Derived terms

Derived terms

• cả gan
• gan béo
• gan dạ
• gan góc
• gan ngỗng béo
• to gan

 

Anagrams

• nga, Nga

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Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡan]

Noun

gan (nominative plural gans)

1. (male or female) goose

Declension

declension of gan

	singular	plural
nominative	gan	gans
genitive	gana	ganas
dative	gane	ganes
accusative	gani	ganis
vocative 1	o gan!	o gans!
predicative 2	ganu	ganus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Hypernyms

• böd
• nim

Hyponyms

• ganil

Derived terms

Terms derived from gan "goose"

• ganablöt (“breast of goose”)
• ganafoad (“goose liver”)
• ganafoadabastet (“pâté de foie gras, goose liver pâté”)
• ganalecek (“goose-pen, enclosure for geese”)
• ganaleplüm (“goose quill”)

• gananäst (“goose's nest”)
• gananög (“goose's egg”)
• ganapinod (“goose fat”)
• ganapüladil (“goose giblets”)
• ganaskin (“goose skin”)
• ganigaledan (“gooseherd”)
• nifagan (“snow goose”), Chen caerulescens

See also

• barnig (“brant goose, brent goose”), Branta bernicla

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Welsh

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh cant, from Proto-Celtic *kanta. Cognate with Breton gant and Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “against; downwards”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡan/
  • IPA^(key): /ɡɪn/
• IPA^(key): /ɡan/
• Rhymes: -an

Preposition

gan (triggers soft mutation)

1. with

   Synonyms: â, gyda, efo

2. (North Wales) used with bod to indicate possession

   Mae gen i wallt hir.

   I have long hair.

   (literally, “Long hair is with me.”)

   Synonym: (South Wales) gyda

3. by (after a passive construction)

   Cafodd y car ei ddwyn gan ddau llanc.

   The car was stolen by two youths.

4. by (authorship)
5. used with verbal noun to indicate an action simultaneous with that of the main verb, while, whilst
   • King, Gareth (1993) Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars), London and New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 131:

     Aeth o gwmpas y stafell gan ofyn yr un cwestiwn i bawb.

     He went around the room [while] asking everyone the same question.

Inflection

Personal forms (literary & colloquial)

	Singular	Plural
First person	gen	gynnon
Second person	gen	gynnoch
Third person	ganddo fo/fe, gynno m ganddi hi, gynni f	gynnyn nhw, ganddyn

Usage notes

See [7] for more information.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡan/
• Rhymes: -an

Adjective

gan

1. Soft mutation of can.

Noun

gan

1. Soft mutation of can.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
can	gan	nghan	chan
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Wolof

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

gan (definite form gan gi)

1. stranger
2. guest

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Yoruba

Alternative forms

• gẹ̀n (Òǹkò)

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã̀/

Verb

gàn

1. (transitive) to disparage, criticize, belittle

   Synonyms: pẹ̀gàn, ṣáátá, ṣàbùkù, kẹ́gàn

   ọ̀tá mí gàn mí ― my enemy disparages me

Derived terms

• aganni
• agàn (“critic”)
• ẹlẹ́gàn (“disparager”)
• ẹ̀gàn (“rebuke, criticism”)
• kẹ́gàn (“to cricitize”)
• pẹ̀gàn (“to rebuke”)
• ṣẹ̀gàn
• ìgàn

 

Usage notes

• gan before a direct object

Related terms

• lámèyítọ́ (“critic”)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• gẹn (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã̄/

Verb

gan

1. (intransitive) to become stiff, to harden

   kankéré ti gan ― The concrete has hardened

Derived terms

• Aganjú (“orisha of the wilderness”)
• ìgan
• agan

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. (transitive) to stub, to clear (plants or a forest)

   Synonym: ṣán

   àgbẹ́ gán' igbó ― The farmer cleared the forest

Derived terms

• agán
• gángbó
• gánlẹ̀
• gánpápá
• ìgán

 

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to use something very sparingly

   Synonym: sún

   mo ń gán owó lò ― I am using money very sparingly

Derived terms

• agán
• gánlò
• ìgán

 

Etymology 5

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to hit something with a thrown or spun object

   mo ń gán owó lò ― I am using money very sparingly

Derived terms

• agán
• gángbó
• gánlọ
• gánpa
• ìgán

 

Etymology 6

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to tack or stich something together

   Synonym: rán

   mo gán etí aṣọ pọ̀ ― I hemmed the edge of the cloth together

Derived terms

• agán
• gánpọ̀
• gánṣọ
• ìgán

 

Related terms

• gbá (“to stich together the edges of a mat”)

Etymology 7

Alternative forms

• gẹ́n (Òǹkò)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡã́/

Verb

gán

1. to snatch something in the air, especially with one hand

   Synonyms: hán, wọ́n

   mo fọwọ́ gán bọ́ọ̀lù náà pákó ― I used my hand to snatch the ball swiftly from the air

Derived terms

• agán
• gánpákó
• ìgán