khan

See also: Khan, khán, khàn, and khăn

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑːn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːn
• (General Australian, General New Zealand, Received Pronunciation) Homophone: carn
• (US) Homophone: con
• Rhymes: -ɑːn
• Rhymes: -ɒn

Etymology 1

Via late Middle English from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan. Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰴𐰍𐰣‎ (qaɣan), Mongolian ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan, “lord, prince”) (Cyrillic: хаан (haan)), a Turkic borrowing.

• Sense 1 (ruler in the Middle Ages) after Genghis Khan.

Noun

khan (plural khans)

1. (historical) 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.

Derived terms

• khanate

Translations

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

• Arabic: خَان‎ m (ḵān)
• Armenian: խան (hy) (xan)
• Azerbaijani: xan, xaqan
• 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
• Danish: khan c
• Esperanto: ĥano
• Estonian: khaan
• Finnish: kaani (fi)
• French: khan (fr) m
• Galician: khan (gl) m, can (gl) m
• Georgian: ხანი (xani), ყაენი (q̇aeni)
• German: Chan (de) m, Khan (de) m
• Greek: χάνος (el) m (chános)
• Hebrew: חַאן‎ m (chan)
• Hindi: खान (hi) m (khān), खन (hi) m (khan), ख़ान m (xān), ख़ागान m (xāgān), ख़ाक़ान m (xāqān)
• Ido: khan (io)
• Italian: khan m
• Japanese: カーン (kān), 汗 (ja) (かん, kan), ハーン (hān), カガン (kagan)
• Kalmyk: хаан (xaan)
• Kazakh: хан (xan), қаған (qağan)
• Khmer: ខាន់ (km) (khan)
• Korean: 칸 (ko) (kan), 가한 (gahan), 카간 (kagan)
• Kyrgyz: хан (ky) (han), каган (kagan)
• Latvian: hans m

• Lithuanian: chanas m
• Macedonian: кан m (kan), хан m (han)
• Manchu: ᡥᠠᠨ (han)
• Marathi: खान m (khāna)
• Mongolian: хаан (mn) (haan), ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan), хан (mn) (han)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: khan m

• Oriya: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: خان‎ (fa) (xân), خاقان‎ (fa) (xâqân)
• Polish: chan (pl) m, kagan (pl) m
• Portuguese: cã (pt) m
• Romanian: han (ro) m
• Russian: хан (ru) m (xan), кага́н (ru) m (kagán)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кан m

  Roman: kan (sh) m

• Shor: қаан
• Slovak: chán m
• Slovene: kan m
• Spanish: kan (es) m
• Swedish: khan (sv)
• Tajik: хон (tg) (xon)
• Tamil: கான் (ta) (kāṉ)
• Tatar: хан (tt) (xan), каган (tt) (qağan)
• Tofa: һаан (haan)
• Turkish: han (tr), kağan (tr), hakan (tr)
• Ukrainian: хан (uk) m (xan), кага́н m (kahán)
• Urdu: خان‎ m (xān), خاقان‎ m (xāqān)
• Uyghur: خان‎ (xan)
• Uzbek: xon (uz), xoqon (uz)
• Vietnamese: hãn, khan (vi)

an Ottoman sultan

• Ido: khan (io)

a noble man in various Muslim countries

• Ido: khan (io)

Etymology 2

From Persian خان‎ (xân, “caravanserai”).

Noun

khan (plural khans)

1. A caravanserai; a resting-place for a travelling caravan.
   • 1923, Powys Mathers, translating The Thousand Nights and One Night:

     ‘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.

   • 1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, page 27:

     At each of these stations there is a hostelry which they call a khan, where travellers alight with their beasts, and outside each khan is a public watering-place and a shop at which the traveller may buy what he requires for himself and his beast.

See also

• caravanserai

Anagrams

• Hank, Kahn, ankh, hank

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Catalan

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. khan

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Dongxiang

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *gal, perhaps related to Proto-Tungusic *gụl-.

Compare Mongolian гал (gal), Evenki гулдай (guldaj, “to light, kindle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qʰaŋ/, [qʰɑ̃(ŋ)]

Noun

khan

1. fire

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French

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. "khan"

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Italian

Alternative forms

• can (obsolete)

Etymology

From Turkic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan/, [kän̺]

Noun

khan m (invariable)

1. khan

Derived terms

• khanato

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Portuguese

Noun

khan m (plural khans)

1. Alternative spelling of cã