Meanings
-chan1
- Appended to a person's name (usually a female, child, a close friend, or an intimate) to add politeness. It is sometimes used to denote cuteness or familiarity.
Dr. Murdoch and Murdoch-chan form an alliance with a group they refer to as “happas” who are half-white and half-Asian, claiming that they pose no threat to each other, but both stand to lose if ZOG wins.
2020 May 3, Julien Morein, “Murdoch Murdoch: A Case Study in Threats to Ontological Security in Far-Right Propaganda”, in Arcadia University, page 21, archived from the original on 08 Sep 2020
-chan2
- InternetUsed in the names of imageboards, usually ones that try to emulate 4chan.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
-chan · suffix
- Englishchannel
- Japaneseチャンネル
- English-chan
In reference to 4chan, in turn from Futaba Channel (cf. its URL, www.2chan.net, or its alternate names ふたばちゃん and 双葉ちゃん found on its homepage); hence, derived from Japanese チャンネル (channeru), from English channel.
More words from Japanese, English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تشان-
- تشان- (-tšān)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Chinese Mandarin 小, 醬 /酱
- 小 (xiǎo)nominal affix indicating familiarity
- 醬 /酱 (jiàng)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Hindi -चान
- -चान (-cān)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Japanese ちゃん
- ちゃん (-chan)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Korean -짱
- -짱 (-jjang)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Russian -тян
- -тян (-tjan)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Thai จัง
- จัง (jang)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Ukrainian -чян
- -чян (-čjan)nominal affix indicating familiarity
Cite this entry
-chan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-chan
“-chan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-chan. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-chan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-chan.
Source: -chan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.