English

Alternative forms

• flawn (obsolete)

Noun

flan ‎(plural flans)

1. (Britain, US) Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)
   • 2004, Shawn Blore, ‎Alexandra de Vries, Frommer's Brazil (ISBN 0764569724), page 175:

     The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes such as the […] broccoli flan.

2. (US, Belize) A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries. (Called a crème caramel in the UK.)
3. (numismatics) A coin die

Related terms

• flathe
• flathon

Translations

See also

• custard

Etymology 2

English, from a slip of the tongue by actor Nathan Fillion.

Noun

flan ‎(plural flans)

1. (informal) A fan of U.S. TV series Firefly; a Browncoat.
   • 2005 January 29, P. Burrows, “Re: Name for Lost fans?”, in rec.arts.sf.tv, Usenet:

     (some) Firefly flans call themselves Browncoats (Remember, the hot movie from Universal is out this September! :)

   • 2006 June 18, Geoff Aldrich, “Re: SciFi promotion [Was Firefly fans skew older?]”, in alt.tv.firefly, Usenet:

     For what it's worth, I'm 27 and am a huge Firefly/Serenity flan.

   • 2007 January 21, Tal, “Re: Nude Jewel Staite? Close enough.”, in alt.tv.firefly, Usenet:

     I'm glad this wasn't the first flan group I came across or I would never have realised the great nature of the majority of browncoasts.^[sic]

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:flan.

References

• Nathan Fillion interview at an In Good Company premiere, 28 December 2004 (IESB.net video) (Wikiquote transcription)

French

Etymology

From Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladonem, accusative of flado ‎(“flat cake”), from Frankish *flado ‎(“flat cake”), from Proto-Germanic *flaþô ‎(“flat, broad”), from Proto-Indo-European *plat-, *pla- ‎(“flat, broad”), from Proto-Indo-European *pele- ‎(“to spread out, broad, flat”). Akin to Old High German flado ‎(“flat cake, offering cake”) (German Fladen), Dutch vla ‎(“baked custard”).

Noun

flan m ‎(plural flans)

1. baked custard tart
2. coin die

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *flainaz ‎(“hook, spear with a tip”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleyn- ‎(“metal arrow, hook, spear-head”). Akin to Old Norse fleinn ‎(“hook, barbed weapon, javelin, arrow”).

Pronunciation

Noun

flān m, f

1. a barb
2. a javelin
3. an arrow; dart

   Hie ða fromlice leton forð fleogan flana scuras. Then they promptly let fly showers of arrows. (Judith)

Declension

(when masculine)

(when feminine)

Synonyms

• flā

Spanish

Etymology

From French flan, from Frankish *flado.

Noun

flan m ‎(plural flanes)

1. flan, sweet pudding