flan

English

Etymology 1

[1846] Borrowed from French flan (“cheesecake, custard tart, flan”) (partially via Spanish flan, itself from the French), from Old French flaon (> Middle English flaon, flaun (“pie; cake”)), from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish flado, flatho (“flat cake”), from Proto-Germanic *flaþô (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”). Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”). More at flathe. The word has largely displaced its doublets flathe and flawn.

A savory flan (non-dessert)

A flan (custard dessert) from India

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæn/
• IPA^(key): /flɑn/
• Rhymes: -æn, -ɑːn

Noun

flan (plural flans)

1. (UK, US) Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)
   • 2004, Shawn Blore, ‎Alexandra de Vries, Frommer's Brazil →ISBN, page 175:

     The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes such as the […] broccoli flan.

2. (US, Belize) A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries.
3. (numismatics) A coin die

Synonyms

• (dessert): crème caramel

Related terms

• flathe
• flathon
• flawn

Translations

baked sweet or savoury tart

• Bulgarian: плодова пита f (plodova pita)
• Finnish: avoin torttu
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: bakaður búðingur m
• Portuguese: flã (pt) m

custard dessert

• Finnish: karamellivanukas
• Japanese: プリン (ja) (purin), フラン (furan), カスタードプディング (kasutādo pudingu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: flan (es) m

See also

• custard

Etymology 2

English, from a slip of the tongue by actor Nathan Fillion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Noun

flan (plural flans)

1. (informal) A fan of U.S. TV series Firefly; a Browncoat.
   • 2005 January 29, P. Burrows, “Re: Name for Lost fans?”, in rec.arts.sf.tv‎^[1] (Usenet):

     (some) Firefly flans call themselves Browncoats (Remember, the hot movie from Universal is out this September! :)

   • 2006 June 18, Geoff Aldrich, “Re: SciFi promotion [Was Firefly fans skew older?]”, in alt.tv.firefly‎^[2] (Usenet):

     For what it's worth, I'm 27 and am a huge Firefly/Serenity flan.

   • 2007 January 21, Tal, “Re: Nude Jewel Staite? Close enough.”, in alt.tv.firefly‎^[3] (Usenet):

     I'm glad this wasn't the first flan group I came across or I would never have realised the great nature of the majority of browncoasts.^[sic]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:flan.

References

• Nathan Fillion interview at an In Good Company premiere, 28 December 2004 (IESB.net video) (Wikiquote transcription)

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French

Etymology

From Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flado (“flat cake”), from Proto-Germanic *flaþô (“flat, broad”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”). Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”) (German Fladen), Dutch vla (“baked custard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɑ̃/

Noun

flan m (plural flans)

1. baked custard tart
2. coin die

Further reading

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

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Middle English

Noun

flan

1. Alternative form of flon

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Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *flainaz (“hook, spear with a tip”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleyn- (“metal arrow, hook, spear-head”). Akin to Old Norse fleinn (“hook, barbed weapon, javelin, arrow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɑːn/

Noun

flān m or f

1. a barb
2. a javelin
3. an arrow; dart
   • Judith:

     Hie ða fromlice leton forð fleogan flana scuras.

     Then they promptly let fly showers of arrows.

Declension

(when masculine)

Declension of flān (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	flān	flānas
accusative	flān	flānas
genitive	flānes	flāna
dative	flāne	flānum

(when feminine)

Declension of flān (strong ō-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	flān	flāna, flāne
accusative	flāne	flāna, flāne
genitive	flāne	flāna
dative	flāne	flānum

Synonyms

• flā

Descendants

• Middle English: flon, ffloon, flan, flone
  • English: flone
  • Scots: flane, flain

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Spanish

Etymology

From French flan, from Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flado (“flat cake”), from Proto-Germanic *flaþô (“flat, broad”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flan/

Noun

flan m (plural flanes)

1. flan, sweet pudding

Derived terms

• flancito (diminutive)