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Webster 1913 Edition


Gan

Gan

,
imp.
of
Gin
.
[See
Gin
,
Verb.
]
Began; commenced.
Gan was formerly used with the infinitive to form compound imperfects, as did is now employed. Gan regularly denotes the singular; the plural is usually denoted by gunne or gonne.
This man
gan fall
(i.e., fell) in great suspicion.
Chaucer.
The little coines to their play
gunne hie
(i. e., hied).
Chaucer.
Later writers use gan both for singular and plural.
Yet at her speech their rages
gan
relent.
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition


Gan

GAN

, a contraction of began, or rather the original simple word, Sax. gynnan, to begin.

Definition 2024


Gan

Gan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "gan"

English

Proper noun

Gan

  1. One of the major divisions of the Chinese language spoken in the Jiangxi province.

Translations

Anagrams

  • Wiktionary's coverage of Gan terms

gan

gan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "gan"

English

Verb

gan

  1. simple past tense of gin

Etymology 2

From Old English gān (to go).

Alternative forms

Verb

gan (third-person singular simple present gans, present participle gannin, simple past went, past participle gone)

  1. (obsolete outside Northumbria) To go.

References

  • The New Geordie Dictionary, Frank Graham, 1987, ISBN 0946928118
  • Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin,
  • Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977
  • A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896,
  • Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
  • A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ISBN 1904794165

Anagrams


Dutch Low Saxon

Verb

gan

  1. Alternative spelling of gaon

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cen (besides; without), from Proto-Celtic *kina (besides); compare Welsh am-gen (otherwise), Breton ken (otherwise).

Pronunciation

  • (unstressed) IPA(key): /ɡən̪ˠ/
  • (stressed, Munster, Aran) IPA(key): /ɡɑn̪ˠ/
  • (stressed, Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA(key): /ɡan̪ˠ/

Preposition

gan (plus nominative, triggers no mutation in specific references but lenition in general references)

  1. without
  2. not (in conjunction with a verbal noun)

Usage notes

Triggers lenition of b, c, g, m, p on unmodified nouns, e.g. gan phingin ‘without a penny’. Does not trigger lenition on modified nouns, e.g. gan pingin ina phóca ‘without a penny in his pocket’. In the meaning ‘not’, does not trigger lenition on either a verbal noun or on the direct object of the verbal noun, e.g. gan ceannach ‘not to buy’, gan pingin a shaothrú ‘not to earn a penny’.

Unlike most Irish prepositions, gan is followed by the nominative case of nouns, not the dative, and it does not form prepositional pronouns: gan an t-arán ‘without the bread’, gan ‘without me’.


Japanese

Romanization

gan

  1. rōmaji reading of がん
  2. rōmaji reading of ガン

Kurdish

Verb

gan (present stem -gê-)

  1. to have sex with somebody, to **** somebody

Noun

gan ?

  1. having sex, ****

Latvian

Conjunction

  1. both, and

Usage notes

Used in pairs: gan jauna, gan skaista "both young and beautiful"


Lojban

Rafsi

gan

  1. rafsi of ganra.

Mandarin

Romanization

gan

  1. Nonstandard spelling of gān.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of gán.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of gǎn.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of gàn.

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.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (to leave). Compare Old Saxon gān, Old English gān, Old Frisian gān, Old High German gān, gēn, Old Norse .

Verb

gān

  1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants


Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (to leave). The verb was defective in Germanic and may only have existed in the present tense. Cognate with Old Frisian gān (West Frisian gean), Old Saxon gān (Dutch Low Saxon gan, gahn), Old Dutch gān (Dutch gaan), Old High German gān, gēn (German gehen), Old Norse (Danish and Swedish ).

Pronunciation

Verb

gān

  1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants


Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (to leave). Compare Old English gān, Old Saxon gān, Old Dutch gān, Old High German gān, gēn, Old Norse .

Verb

gān

  1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants

  • North Frisian: (Mooring) gunge, (Föhr-Amrum) gung
  • Saterland Frisian: gunge
  • West Frisian: gean

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (to leave). Compare Old English gān, Old Dutch gān, Old Frisian gān, Old High German gān, gēn, Old Norse .

Verb

gān

  1. to go

Conjugation

Descendants


Scots

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the Old English gān (to go). Past tense supplied by Old English wenden (to wend).

Verb

gan (third-person singular present gans, present participle gan, past went or wett, past participle been)

  1. to go

Scottish Gaelic

Pronoun

gan

  1. them (direct object)
    A bheil sibh gan creidsinn? ― Do you believe them?

Usage notes

  • Before words beginning with b, f, m or p gam is used instead.

Related terms


Turkmen

Etymology

From Old Turkic kan (blood), from Proto-Turkic *kān, *Kiān (blood).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡaːn/

Noun

gan (definite accusative gany, plural ganlar)

  1. blood

Declension


Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *t-kaːn, from Chinese *肝 (liver), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ka-(n/m/ŋ) (bitter; bile; liver).

Pronunciation

Noun

gan

  1. a liver
  2. (figuratively) audacity; balls

Derived terms


Volapük

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɡan]

Noun

gan (plural gans)

  1. (male or female) goose

Declension

Hyponyms

Hypernyms

Derived terms

See also


Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡan/

Etymology 1

Preposition

gan

  1. with
  2. by (authorship)
  3. (North Wales) to indicate possession
    Mae gen i wallt hir.
    I have long hair.
  4. used with verbal noun to indicate an action simultaneous with that of the main verb
    • 1993, Gareth King, Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-09269-8, p. 131:
      Aeth o gwmpas y stafell gan ofyn yr un cwestiwn i bawb.
      He went around the room asking everyone the same question.
Usage notes

See for more information.

Inflection

Etymology 2

Adjective

gan

  1. Soft mutation of can.

Noun

gan

  1. Soft mutation of can.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
can gan nghan chan
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.