dan

alternative Dan

1. obsoleteA title of honour or respect similar to "master" or "Sir", used of historical and legendary figures of the past.

   This senior-junior, giant-dwarf, dan Cupid.

   c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

   5 more examples

   Dan Phoebus, he with many a low'ring look / Had her beheld in yore in angry wise.

   1578, George Gascoigne, “A Moonshine Banquet”, in A Hundred Sundry Flowers

   Old Dan Geoffrey, in whose gentle spright / The pure well-head of Poesy did dwell.

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

   The patriarchal age, / What time Dan Abraham left the Chaldee land.

   1748, James Thomson, The Castle of Indolence: […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

   He did—and in a moment press'd / The place—in Paradise the best, / As by Dan Moses said.

   1777, James Perry, The Electrical Eel; or, Gymnotus Electricus

   Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath / Preluded those melodious bursts, that fill / The spacious times of great Elizabeth / With sounds that echo still.

   1842, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, A Dream of Fair Women

plural dans

1. businessA small truck or sledge used in coal mines.

plural dans

1. A rank of black belt in martial arts.
2. Someone who has achieved a level of black belt.

plural dans

1. units of measurementSynonym of picul: a traditional unit of weight and mass, chiefly used as a dry measure of grains.

   Synonyms: picul

2. units of measurementA traditional unit of equivalent volume, now officially equal to 100 liters.

plural dans

1. A dan buoy.

   Carrying away of 25 great-lines, 3 dans, buoys, &c., of steam liner 'Star of the East'[…]

   1913, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Papers: 1909-1982, page 165

   1 more example

   Dumping dans. Dan buoys laid to mark a dumping ground. They are fitted with a topmark in the shape of a St. Andrews cross formed by battens 2 feet in length. Live dan. Dan buoy for which a[…]

   1917, United States. Office of Naval Intelligence, O.N.I. Publications, page 17

1. pronunciation spellingPronunciation spelling of than.

   It's easy. It's nothin'. It's less dan nothin'.

   2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport

plural Dans

1. A male given name from Hebrew.

   A widely shared local television video of last week's news conference, which was posted on YouTube, reached more than 5 million views and was amplified by Elon Musk and Fox News, where Dr. Dan Erickson and Dr. Artin Massihi appeared on primetime shows two nights in a row.

   2020 April 29, Anna-Maja Rappard, “Dubious coronavirus claims by California doctors condemned by health experts”, in CNN, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2020

2. A diminutive of the male given name Daniel.

   After close to an hour of physical, full-blooded football, Sunderland were given a penalty when Ezri Konsa fouled Dan Ballard at a corner.

   2026 September 12, Alex Brotherton, “'Today the game was unprotected' - Arteta fumes but Arsenal survive”, in BBC

   1 more example

   In Welland, a blue-collar burg between Buffalo and Toronto, [Daniel] Paille’s and [Dan] Girardi’s friends, relatives and fans will tune in to the latest installment of what some have labeled the Battle of Welland or the Battle of the Dans.

   2013 May 22, Matt Higgins, “A Bruin and a Ranger Share a Bond While Dividing a City”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Sep 2024

3. A diminutive of the female given name Danielle.

   […] the director of Wallace Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon replaces the characters' intellectual and verbal energy with "transparent rationalizations for the personal hang-ups of the characters […]

   1988, Richard H. Palmer, The Critics' Canon: Standards of Theatrical Reviewing in America

4. A surname.
5. biblicalThe fifth son of Jacob and Bilhah (who was Rachel's handmaid).
6. One of the Israelite tribes, descended from Dan.
7. A former city occupied by this tribe.

plural Dans

1. alternativeAlternative form of dan (title of honour).

1. A Mande ethnic group from northwestern Ivory Coast and neighboring Liberia.
2. The language of this people, belonging to the Southern Mande branch.

1. abbreviationacronymuncountablebiochemistryAcronym of deadenylating nuclease, a protein that binds the 5' cap of mRNA and begins degradation in the 3' to 5' direction.
2. abbreviationacronymuncountableUS space programaerospaceAcronym of Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons, a scientific instrument of the Mars Science Laboratory onboard the Curiosity rover at Mars.

1. abbreviationacronymdivingAcronym of Divers Alert Network.