khan

See also: Khan, khàn, and khăn

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑːn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Etymology 1

From Old French chan or Latin chanis, from Mongolian ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (“lord, prince”) (borrowed into Arabic, Persian, Turkish etc.).

Noun

khan (plural khans)

1. after Genghis Khan, 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

Translations

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

• Arabic: خان m (ḵān)
• Armenian: խան (xan)
• Azeri: xan
• Bashkir: хан (xan)
• Belarusian: хан m (xan)
• Bengali: খান (khan)
• Bulgarian: кан m (kan), хан (bg) m (han)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可汗 (zh) (kèhán), 汗 (zh) (hán) (as a suffix only)

• Chuvash: хан (han)
• Crimean Tatar: han
• Czech: chán m
• Esperanto: ĥano
• Estonian: khaan
• Finnish: kaani (fi)
• French: khan (fr) m
• Georgian: ხანი (xani)
• German: Khan (de) m
• Greek: χάνος (el) m (chános)
• Hindi: खान (khān), खन m (khan), ख़ान m (ḵẖān)
• Japanese: カーン (kān), カン (ja) (kan), ハーン (hān)
• Kazakh: хан (han)
• Khmer: ខាន់ (km) (kʰan)
• Korean: 칸 (ko) (kan)

• Kyrgyz: хан (han), каган (kagan)
• Latvian: hans m
• Lithuanian: chanas m
• Macedonian: кан m (kan), хан m (han)
• Manchu: ᡥᠠᠨ
• Mongolian: хаан (haan), ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ, хан (han)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: khan m

• Persian: خان (fa) (xân)
• Polish: chan (pl) m
• Portuguese: cã (pt) m
• Romanian: han (ro) m
• Russian: хан (ru) m (xan)
• Serbo-Croatian: кан m, kan m
• Spanish: kan (es) m
• Swedish: khan (sv)
• Tamil: கான் (ta) (kāṉ)
• Tatar: хан (tt) (xan), каган (tt) (qağan)
• Turkish: han (tr), kağan (tr), hakan (tr)
• Ukrainian: хан (uk) m (xan)
• Urdu: خان m (khān)
• Uyghur: خان (xan)
• Uzbek: hon
• Vietnamese: hãn, khan (vi)

an Ottoman sultan

a noble man in various Muslim countries

Derived terms

• khanate

Etymology 2

From Persian خان (xân, “caravanserai”).

Noun

khan (plural khans)

1. a caravanserai; a resting-place for a travelling caravan

   • 1923: ‘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. — The Thousand Nights and One Night, tr. Powys Mathers

See also

• caravanserai

Anagrams

• ankh
• hank, Hank

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Portuguese

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. Alternative spelling of cã.