Tan
Tan (tan) , noun
[Chin.]
See Picul.
Tan , noun
[French tan, perhaps from Armor. tann an oak, oak bar; or of Teutonic origin; compare German tanne a fir, Old High German tanna a fir, oak, Middle High German tan a forest. Compare Tawny.]
1.
The bark of the oak, and some other trees, bruised and broken by a mill, for tanning hides; -- so called both before and after it has been used. Called also tan bark.
2.
A yellowish-brown color, like that of tan.
3.
A brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun; as, hands covered with tan.
Collocations (5)
Tan bed (Horticulture) , a bed made of tan; a bark bed.
Tan pickle , the liquor used in tanning leather.
Tan spud , a spud used in stripping bark for tan from trees.
Tan stove , See Bark stove, under Bark.
Tan vat , a vat in which hides are steeped in liquor with tan.
Tan , adjective
Of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
Collocations (1)
Black and tan , See under Black, a.
Tan (tand) , transitive verb
[French tanner, Late Latin tannare. See Tan, n.]
1.
To convert (the skin of an animal) into leather, as by the usual process of steeping it in an infusion of oak or some other bark, whereby it is impregnated with tannin, or tannic acid (which exists in several species of bark), and is thus rendered firm, durable, and in some degree impervious to water.
The essential result in tanning is due to the fact that the tannins form, with gelatins and albuminoids, a series of insoluble compounds which constitute leather. Similar results may be produced by the use of other reagents in place of tannin, as alum, and some acids or chlorides, which are employed in certain processes of tanning.
2.
To make brown; to imbrown, as by exposure to the rays of the sun; as, to tan the skin.
3.
To thrash or beat; to flog; to switch; as, to tan a disobedient child's hide. [Colloquial]
Tan , intransitive verb
To get or become tanned.