khan

• IPA^(key): /kɑːn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: carn (non-rhotic)
• Homophone: con (father-bother merger)
• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Via late Middle English can, chan from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan.[1] Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰴𐰍𐰣 (qaɣan), and Mongolian хаан (xaan). Sense 1 (ruler in the Middle Ages) after Genghis Khan, from Middle Mongol ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan).

khan (plural khans)

1. (historical) A ruler over various Turkic 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.

• khakan

• khanate

• khanum

From Arabic خَان (ḵān, “inn, caravanserai, hotel”) and Persian خان (xân, “inn, caravanserai”).

khan (plural khans)

1. Synonym of caravanserai, particularly in Middle Eastern contexts.
   • 1923, Powys Mathers, transl., 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.

2. Synonym of fonduk, an inn or hotel in Middle Eastern contexts.

• Hank, Kahn, Nakh, ankh, hank

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

khan

1. cassava, tapioca

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

khan

1. (classifier for objects like log-boats)

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, caanus, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (“Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

khan m (plural khans)

1. khan

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

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

• IPA^(key): /qʰɑŋ/

khan

1. fire

• kan

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, caanus, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (“Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

• IPA^(key): /kaːn/
• Hyphenation: khan
• Rhymes: -aːn

khan m (plural khans)

1. (historical) A khan (Turkic, Tatar or Mongolic ruler).
2. A khan (nobleman in various Central Asian countries).

• khanaat

• (obsolete) cham, kan

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, caanus, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (“Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

khan m (uncountable)

1. khan

• “khan” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.
• “khan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• can (obsolete)

From Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, of Turkic origin, from Old Turkic xān (“Central Asian khan”), probably ultimately of non-Turkic (Central Asian) origin.[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkan/
• Rhymes: -an
• Hyphenation: khàn

khan m (invariable)

1. khan

• khanato

• (non-standard since 2005) kan

From Turkic.

khan m (definite singular khanen, indefinite plural khanar, definite plural khanane)

1. khan

• “khan” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

khan m (plural khans)

1. Alternative spelling of cã

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xaːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰaːŋ˧˧] ~ [xaːŋ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kʰaːŋ˧˧] ~ [xaːŋ˧˧]

khan

1. dried up; dry
2. rare; scarce

khan

1. hoarse; husky