tun

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tun"

English

Alternative forms

• tunne, tonne (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From Middle English tunne, tonne (“cask, barrel”), from Old English tunne (“tun, cask, barrel”), from Proto-Germanic *tunnǭ, *tunnō (“tun, barrel, cask”), of unknown origin. Cognate with North Frisian tenn (“tun, barrel, cask”), Dutch ton (“tun, barrel, cask”), German Tonne (“tun, barrel, drum”), Danish tønde (“barrel”), Swedish tunna (“barrel, cask, tun”), Icelandic tunna (“barrel”). Compare also Old French tonne, French tonneau (“ton, barrel”), Medieval Latin tunna (“cask”), Middle Irish tunna (“cask”), Welsh tynell (“tun, barrel”). It is uncertain whether the Germanic or the Celtic forms are the original.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʌn/, /tʊn/
• Homophones: ton, tonne
• Rhymes: -ʌn

Noun

tun (plural tuns)

1. A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask.
2. (brewing) A fermenting vat.
3. An old English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 252 wine gallons; equal to two pipes.
   • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, p. 205:

     Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons.

4. A weight of 2,240 pounds.
5. An indefinite large quantity.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
     :

     He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, / This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this, / Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim / Hear no more of you.

   • 1682, John Dryden, "Mac Flecknoe", lines 195-196:

     A Tun of Man in thy Large bulk is writ, / But sure thou'rt but a Kilderkin of wit.

6. (archaic, humorous or derogatory) A drunkard.
7. (zoology) Any shell belonging to Tonna and allied genera; called also tun-shell.

Verb

tun (third-person singular simple present tuns, present participle tunning, simple past and past participle tunned)

1. (transitive) To put into tuns, or casks.
   • 1843, Mary Holland, The Complete Economical Cook, and Frugal Housewife‎^[1], fourteenth edition, page 407:

     Strong beer that is brewed in small quantities, and ale, whatever the quantity may be, should be tunned the second day after brewing; and small beer should be tunned as soon as it has fairly taken the yeast

Etymology 2

Mayan. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

tun (plural tuns)

1. A part of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar system which corresponds to 18 winal cycles or 360 days.

Anagrams

• NTU, NUT, Nut, nut

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Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin tonus. Compare Italian tuono, French ton, Catalan to, Romansch tun, tung, Romanian tun, tunet, Spanish trueno.

Noun

tun m

1. thunderclap, thunder

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Danish

Etymology 1

A contraction of tunfisk, from German Thunfisch (“tuna”), from Latin thunnus, from Ancient Greek θύννος (thúnnos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tˢuːˀn]

Noun

tun c (singular definite tunen, plural indefinite tun)

1. tuna
2. tuna fish
3. tun

Inflection

Declension of tun

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	tun	tunen	tun	tunene
genitive	tuns	tunens	tuns	tunenes

Etymology 2

From Old Norse tún, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tˢuːˀn]

Noun

tun n (singular definite tunet, plural indefinite tun)

1. (dated) an enclosed piece of ground

Inflection

Declension of tun

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	tun	tunet	tun	tunene
genitive	tuns	tunets	tuns	tunenes

Etymology 3

See tune.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tˢuːˀn]

Verb

tun

1. imperative of tune

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German

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) thun

Etymology

From Middle High German tuon, from Old High German tuon, from Proto-Germanic *dōną. Akin to Low German doon, Dutch doen, English do, West Frisian dwaan; all derived from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, set, place”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tuːn]

• audio

  (file)

Verb

tun (irregular, third-person singular simple present tut, past tense tat, past participle getan, auxiliary haben)

1. to do (to perform or execute an action)

   Synonyms: machen

   Tu es! ― Do it!

   Man tut, was man kann. ― One does what one can.

   Er tat das, was man ihm gesagt hat. ― He did as he was told.

   Das einzige, was er je tat, war arbeiten. ― The only thing he ever did was work.

2. (with dative) to do something (positive or negative) to someone

   Synonyms: antun

   Der tut Ihnen nichts! ― He won't hurt you! (said for example about a dog)

   Mein Mann hat mir so viel Gutes getan. ― My husband has done me so much good.

3. (reflexive, with an indefinite pronoun) to make a difference; to be different

   Synonyms: unterscheiden

   Tut sich das viel? ― Does that make much of a difference?

   Die beiden Kameras tun sich nichts. ― The two cameras are no different [i.e. neither better than the other].

4. (somewhat informal, with “so” or “als ob”) to fake; to feign; to pretend

   Synonyms: vortäuschen, täuschen, vorgeben

   Er hat nur so getan. ― He just faked it.

   Er tut, als ob er nichts wüsste. ― He pretends to know nothing.

5. (chiefly colloquial) to put, to place, to add

   Synonyms: setzen, legen, stellen, platzieren, hinzufügen

   Tu das hier rein. ― Put it in here.

   Ich würd noch was Salz an die Kartoffeln tun. ― I would add some more salt to the potatoes.

6. (chiefly colloquial, with “es”) to work, to function

   Synonyms: funktionieren

   Die Uhr tut’s nicht mehr. ― The clock doesn’t work anymore.

7. (chiefly colloquial, but acceptable in writing) Used with the preceding infinitive of another verb to emphasise this verb

   Er singt immer noch gern, aber tanzen tut er gar nicht mehr.

   He still loves singing, but as to dancing, he doesn't do that anymore at all.

8. (colloquial, nonstandard) Used with the following infinitive of another verb, often to emphasise the statement

   Ich tu doch zuhören! ― I am listening! (as a response to the reproach that one is not)

   Ich tu das jetzt mal aufräumen. ― I’m cleaning this up now.

9. (colloquial, nonstandard) Used in the past subjunctive with the infinitive of another verb to form the conditional tense (instead of standard würde)

   Ich tät mir das noch mal überlegen. ― I would think about that again.

Usage notes

• The verb tun in the sense of “to perform” is not used in combination with nouns. This function is covered by the verb machen: ich mache Sport, wir machen ein Spiel, er macht die Wäsche (“I do sport, we do a game, he does the laundry”). The same is true with pronouns that represent such nouns: Wer macht die Wäsche? – Ich mache sie. (“Who does the laundry? – I do it.”) It is usually ungrammatical to use tun in sentences like these.

Tun is only used with pronouns that represent actions as a whole: Was tust du? (“What are you doing?”) Ich tue viel für die Umwelt. (“I do a lot for the environment.”) Er tut alles, was sie sagt. (“He does everything she says.”)

• (colloquial, nonstandard): The use of do-support is a feature of several dialects and minority languages in Germany. In the standard language, it is most established along the Rhine. It is somewhat more acceptable when used for emphasis (as in the first example above), but is otherwise often regarded as illiterate (as in the second example). This latter usage is generally associated with lower socio-economic status.

Conjugation

• The 1st person singular indicative present active is also (ich) tu.

conjugation of tun

infinitive		tun
present participle		tuend
past participle		getan
auxiliary		haben
	indicative			subjunctive
present	ich tue	wir tun	i	ich tue	wir tuen
	du tust	ihr tut		du tuest	ihr tuet
	er tut	sie tun		er tue	sie tuen
preterite	ich tat	wir taten	ii	ich täte	wir täten
	du tatest	ihr tatet		du tätest	ihr tätet
	er tat	sie taten		er täte	sie täten
imperative	tu (du) tue (du)	tut (ihr)

composed forms of tun

perfect
indicative	ich habe getan	wir haben getan	subjunctive	ich habe getan	wir haben getan
	du hast getan	ihr habt getan		du habest getan	ihr habet getan
	er hat getan	sie haben getan		er habe getan	sie haben getan
pluperfect
indicative	ich hatte getan	wir hatten getan	subjunctive	ich hätte getan	wir hätten getan
	du hattest getan	ihr hattet getan		du hättest getan	ihr hättet getan
	er hatte getan	sie hatten getan		er hätte getan	sie hätten getan
future i
infinitive	tun werden		subjunctive i	ich werde tun	wir werden tun
				du werdest tun	ihr werdet tun
				er werde tun	sie werden tun
indicative	ich werde tun	wir werden tun	subjunctive ii	ich würde tun	wir würden tun
	du wirst tun	ihr werdet tun		du würdest tun	ihr würdet tun
	er wird tun	sie werden tun		er würde tun	sie würden tun
future ii
infinitive	getan haben werden		subjunctive i	ich werde getan haben	wir werden getan haben
				du werdest getan haben	ihr werdet getan haben
				er werde getan haben	sie werden getan haben
indicative	ich werde getan haben	wir werden getan haben	subjunctive ii	ich würde getan haben	wir würden getan haben
	du wirst getan haben	ihr werdet getan haben		du würdest getan haben	ihr würdet getan haben
	er wird getan haben	sie werden getan haben		er würde getan haben	sie würden getan haben

Derived terms

Terms derived from tun

• abtun
• antun
• auftun
• austun
• betun
• dartun
• dazutun
• geheimtun
• genugtun
• gleichtun
• großtun
• guttun
• harttun
• heimlichtun
• heimtun
• heraustun

• herumtun
• hervortun
• hinauftun
• hinaustun
• hineintun
• hintun
• hinüberun
• hinzutun
• kundtun
• leichttun
• leidtun
• mittun
• nachtun
• nottun
• schöntun
• schwertun

• Tun
• Tun und Handeln
• übeltun
• übertun
• vertun
• wegtun
• wehtun
• wichtigtun
• wiedertun
• wohltun
• zugutetun
• zurücktun
• zusammentun
• zutun
• zuvortun

Related terms

• Tat f

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Hausa

Preposition

tun

1. since, ever since

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Inari Sami

Etymology

From Proto-Samic *tonë.

Pronoun

tun

1. you (singular)

Further reading

• Entry 24279 in Álgu database

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Mandarin

Romanization

tun

1. Nonstandard spelling of tūn.
2. Nonstandard spelling of tún.
3. Nonstandard spelling of tǔn.
4. Nonstandard spelling of tùn.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Mapudungun

Verb

tun (using Raguileo Alphabet)

1. to catch

Conjugation

    Conjugation of tunn (See Appendix:Mapudungun conjugation.)

Infinitive		tunn
Root		tun-
Tense particles (See particles)		-a- (future tense)
		-pe- (past tense)
		-fu- (distant past tense)
person	singular			dual			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third	first	second	third
Realis mood	iñce	eymi	fey	iñciw	eymu	feygu	iñciñ	eymvn	feygvn
	tunn	tunymi	tuny	tunyu	tunymu	tunygu	tunyiñ	tunymvn	tunygvn
Conditional mood	iñce	eymi	fey	iñciw	eymu	feygu	iñciñ	eymvn	feygvn
	tunli	tunlimi	tunle	tunliyu	tunlimu	tunle egu	tunliyiñ	tunlimvn	tunle egvn
Volitive mood	iñce	eymi	fey	iñciw	eymu	feygu	iñciñ	eymvn	feygvn
	tunci	tunge	tunpe	tunyu	tunmu	tunpe egu	tunyiñ	tunmvn	tunpe egvn

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Norman

Noun

tun m (plural tuns)

1. (Jersey) tuft

Synonyms

• toupet
• tus

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse tún. Akin to English town.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʉːn/

Noun

tun n (definite singular tunet, indefinite plural tun, definite plural tuna)

1. courtyard, front yard (the area in front of, around or between houses, particularly on a farm)
   • 1996, Jon Fosse, Nokon kjem til å komme:

     I tunet framfor eit gammalt ganske forfallent hus […]

     In the front yard in front of an old, rather dilapidated house […]

2. farmstead (collection of buildings and the area between them on a farm)

References

• “tun” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *tūną (“enclosure”). Cognate with Old Frisian tūn, Old Saxon tūn, Dutch tuin (“garden”), Old High German zūn (German Zaun (“fence”)), Old Norse tún (Swedish tun (“fence”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/

Noun

tūn m

1. An enclosed piece of ground, an enclosure or garden.
2. The enclosed ground belonging to an individual dwelling.
3. The group of houses on an area of enclosed land, a homestead.
4. A large inhabited place, a town.

Declension

Declension of tun (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	tūn	tūnas
accusative	tūn	tūnas
genitive	tūnes	tūna
dative	tūne	tūnum

Related terms

• tȳnan
• dūn "dune, hill, mountain"

Descendants

• English town
• Scots toun

See also

• dōn "to place, put, set"

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Old French

Pronoun

tun m (feminine ta)

1. (Anglo-Norman) your (second-person singular possessive pronoun)

Synonyms

• vostre (second-person plural form)

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin tonus. See also the doublet ton (“tone”), borrowed through French.

Noun

tun n (plural tunuri)

1. cannon
2. (archaic, popular) thunderclap

Related terms

• tuna
• tunet

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Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Sutsilvan) tùn
• (Surmiran) tung

Etymology

From Latin tonus.

Noun

tun m

1. sound
2. thunder

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Spanish

Noun

tun m (plural tunes)

1. (music) A Pre-Hispanic percussion instrument from Guatemala, consisting of a hollow wooden block with slits in the sides

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Tetum

Verb

tun

1. to descend