tan
gb/tˈæn/ us/tˈæn/
A2
English
~ 6300
világosbarna, drapp, napbarnított, barnaság, lebarnul, barnul, lebarnít, barnít, cserz, tangens, tan
A2
1
Usage pattern:
[something] is tan
She wore a tan coat that matched her boots.
Drapp kabátot viselt, ami illett a csizmájához.
After a week at the beach, his face was a warm tan color.
Egy hét strandolás után az arca meleg, napbarnított árnyalatú lett.
The living room has tan walls and a dark brown floor.
He bought a pair of tan leather shoes for the office.
Learner examples
Her skin is tan in the summer.
Nyáron napbarnított a bőre.
I like your tan jacket.
Tetszik a drapp dzsekid.
The dog has tan and white fur.
The chairs in the cafe are a light tan color.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes say *a tan skin* instead of *tan skin*. In English, we usually use *tan* directly before the noun without *a* when it is an adjective: *She has tan skin*, not *She has a tan skin*.
Meaning
light brown in color
Collocations
tan skin
|tan leather
|tan boots
|tan jacket
|tan sofa
|light tan
Synonyms
light brown (More general color term; does not suggest the specific fashion or design sense that 'tan' often has.)
|
beige (Often slightly lighter or more grayish than 'tan' and commonly used in fashion and interior design.)
Antonyms
pale (Describes skin or color lacking brownness or darkness, the opposite effect of looking tan.)
Themes
colors
|appearance
|daily_life
|clothing
|body
|core_vocabulary
Definition
Having a light brown color.
Having a pale to medium light brown color, often used to describe skin, hair, clothing, or other materials.
NOUN
B1
2
barnaság
B1
Usage pattern:
to get a tan
You got a great tan on vacation.
Szép barnaságot szereztél a nyaraláson.
By the end of the summer, her tan had faded.
Nyár végére lekopott róla a barnaság.
He lay on the beach all day just to work on his tan.
Her tan makes her look like she just came back from a tropical island.
Learner examples
I got a tan at the beach.
Lebarnultam a strandon.
She has a light tan on her arms.
Enyhe barnaság látszik a karján.
My tan goes away in the winter.
He wants a tan before the wedding photos.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes say *I am a tan* instead of *I have a tan* or *I am tan*. Use *have* with the noun: *I have a tan now*. Use *am* with the adjective: *I am tan now*.
Meaning
brown skin from the sun
Collocations
get a tan
|have a tan
|nice tan
|deep tan
|lose your tan
|even tan
Synonyms
suntan (Slightly more explicit and informal; makes the connection to the sun very clear.)
Antonyms
paleness (Describes very light, often sun-deprived skin, which contrasts with having a tan.)
Themes
appearance
|health
|daily_life
|body
Definition
The brown color your skin gets from the sun or a tanning bed.
Skin that has become noticeably browner from exposure to the sun or artificial light, or the brown color itself.
VERB
B1
3
Usage pattern:
[someone/something] tans
I tan very easily, so I have to be careful in the sun.
Én nagyon könnyen lebarnulok, ezért óvatosnak kell lennem a napon.
Her skin tans quickly in the summer.
Nyáron gyorsan barnul a bőre.
Some people burn before they tan.
This lotion helps your skin tan more evenly.
Learner examples
My skin does not tan; it only burns.
Az én bőröm nem barnul, csak leég.
He tans fast when he goes to the beach.
Gyorsan lebarnul, ha strandra megy.
She likes to tan by the pool.
In this country I tan even in spring.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse *tan* and *burn* with sun exposure. *Tan* means the skin becomes brown; *burn* means the skin becomes red and painful. Also, do not say *I tan myself* for the intransitive meaning; just say *I tan easily* or *My skin tans easily*.
Meaning
become brown from the sun
Collocations
tan easily
|tan quickly
|tan well
|tan in the sun
|tan outdoors
Synonyms
brown (Can be used for skin becoming darker, but is less specific and also used for many other things changing color.)
Antonyms
burn (In the context of sun exposure, *burn* means to become red and painful instead of turning brown.)
Themes
appearance
|health
|daily_life
|body
Definition
When your skin becomes brown from the sun or a tanning bed.
To become darker and browner in color because of exposure to sun or artificial ultraviolet light.
VERB
B1
4
Usage pattern:
to tan [someone/something]
She used a special cream to tan her legs before the trip.
Az utazás előtt speciális barnítókrémet kent a lábára.
The sun lamp can tan your skin very quickly.
A szoláriumlámpa nagyon gyorsan lebarníthatja a bőrödet.
Too much time outside had tanned his face and arms.
They tanned their bodies on the hotel roof every afternoon.
Learner examples
The hot sun tanned his arms.
A forró nap lebarnította a karját.
This machine can tan your skin in ten minutes.
Ez a gép tíz perc alatt lebarníthatja a bőrödet.
She wants to tan her legs before summer.
The strong sun tanned my face last week.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes say *tan me* when they mean *I tan* (intransitive). Use the transitive form when something causes the change: *The sun tanned my arms*. Use the intransitive form when you are the one changing: *My arms tanned quickly*.
Meaning
make skin brown from sun
Collocations
tan your skin
|tan your legs
|tan your face
|tan evenly
|tan the body
Synonyms
bronze (Often used in beauty and fashion contexts to suggest a rich, attractive brown color of the skin.)
Antonyms
whiten (Means to make something lighter in color, the opposite direction of making skin darker or brown.)
Themes
appearance
|health
|daily_life
|body
Definition
To make skin brown by putting it in the sun or under a tanning light.
To cause someone’s or something’s skin to become darker and browner from exposure to the sun or artificial ultraviolet light.
NOUN
B1
5
drapp
B1
világosbarna
A2
Usage pattern:
a shade of tan
They painted the bedroom a soft tan to make it feel warm.
Lágy drapp színűre festették a hálószobát, hogy melegebb hangulatú legyen.
The carpet is a neutral tan that goes with any furniture.
A szőnyeg semleges drapp árnyalatú, ezért bármilyen bútorhoz illik.
He chose a pair of shoes in a classic tan.
The designer suggested a darker tan for the sofa.
Learner examples
The walls are tan, not white.
A falak drapp színűek, nem fehérek.
She bought a tan dress for work.
Drapp ruhát vett munkába.
I like this light tan color on the floor.
The bag comes in black, brown, and tan.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse the noun and adjective uses, e.g. *the color is tan color*. It is enough to say *The color is tan* or *It is a tan color*, not both together.
Meaning
the color tan
Collocations
shade of tan
|light tan
|dark tan
|tan paint
|tan carpet
|tan fabric
Synonyms
beige (Very similar neutral color; often slightly lighter or more gray, common in fashion and interiors.)
|
khaki (A yellowish or greenish tan, especially used for military clothes or casual pants.)
Antonyms
black (A very dark color, at the opposite end of brightness from light tan.)
Themes
colors
|fashion
|home
|clothing
|arts_entertainment
|core_vocabulary
Definition
A light brown color, like some kinds of leather or sand.
A pale to medium light brown color, often used for paint, fabric, leather, and other materials.
VERB
C1
TECHNICAL
6
cserz
C1
Usage pattern:
to tan [a hide/skin]
The factory tans cowhides to produce high-quality leather.
A gyárban marhabőröket cserzenek, hogy kiváló minőségű bőrt állítsanak elő.
Traditionally, people used tree bark to tan animal skins.
Hagyományosan fakérget használtak az állatbőrök cserzéséhez.
This belt is made from vegetable-tanned leather.
It takes time and skill to tan hides properly.
Learner examples
Workers tan the animal skins to make leather.
A munkások cserzik az állatbőröket, hogy bőrt készítsenek belőlük.
In the past, people tanned hides by hand.
Régen kézzel cserzték a nyersbőröket.
This bag is made from tanned leather.
They use a special process to tan the cowhide.
Meaning
turn animal skins into leather
Collocations
tan leather
|tan hides
|tan animal skins
|vegetable-tan leather
|professionally tanned
Synonyms
cure (General term for preserving animal skins or meat; less specific than the leather-making process of tanning.)
Antonyms
leave raw (To not process the hide at all, leaving it in its natural, untreated state, which is the opposite of tanning it.)
Themes
industry
|materials
|crafts
|work
|business
Definition
To treat animal skin in a special way so it becomes leather.
To treat animal skins with chemicals or natural substances so that they become leather instead of raw hide.
NOUN
C2
TECHNICAL
7
Usage pattern:
tan [angle]
In this formula, y equals tan x.
Ebben a képletben y egyenlő tangens x-szel.
The graph of tan x has vertical asymptotes at odd multiples of π/2.
A tan x grafikonjának függőleges aszimptotái a π/2 páratlan többszöröseinél vannak.
You can find the height of the tree using tan of the angle.
Learner examples
In trigonometry, we study sin, cos, and tan.
Trigonometriából tanuljuk a szinuszt, a koszinuszt és a tangenst.
The calculator has a button for tan.
A számológépen van tan gomb.
We use tan θ to find this side of the triangle.
Common mistake:
Learners may not realize that *tan* here is not related to skin color; it is simply the standard short form of the mathematical word *tangent*.
Meaning
abbreviation for tangent function
Collocations
tan x
|tan θ
|tan function
|graph of tan
|tan of the angle
Synonyms
tangent (The full name of the function; *tan* is its standard abbreviation in formulas.)
Antonyms
cotangent (A related trigonometric function that is the reciprocal of tangent; sometimes treated as an opposite in behavior.)
Themes
mathematics
|science
|education
Definition
In math, the short form of the trigonometric function *tangent*, written as tan.
In mathematics, the trigonometric function tangent, usually written as tan, giving the ratio of the opposite side to the adjacent side of a right triangle for a given angle.
Grammar
Dictionary form
tan
IPA
GB/tˈæn/
US/tˈæn/
Syllables & stress
tan (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (tan)
Word forms
Adjective
- Base: tan
- Comparative: tanner
- Superlative: tannest
Verb
- Base: tan
- 3rd Person Singular: tans
- Present Participle: tanning
- Past: tanned
Word family
Forms
tans
verb
tanning
verb
tanned
verb
tanner
adjective
tannest
adjective
Related words
suntan
noun
Highlights
- Irregular present participle: tanning Verb
- Irregular past: tanned Verb
- Irregular comparative: tanner Adjective
- Irregular superlative: tannest Adjective
Expressions
get a tan
1/ɡˈɛt ə tˈæn/
fixed phrase
become suntanned
To spend time in the sun or under a tanning light so that your skin becomes brown.
Examples
- She wants to get a tan before her beach vacation.
- You can get a tan very quickly at this altitude.
- He stayed by the pool all afternoon to get a tan.
tan line
1/tˈæn lˈaɪn/
fixed phrase
pale line on tanned skin
A lighter mark on your skin where clothes or a strap blocked the sun, while the rest of the skin became brown.
Examples
- My swimsuit left really bad tan lines on my shoulders.
- She wore a different top and now her tan lines show.
tan someone's hide
1/tˈæn sˈʌmwˌʌnz hˈaɪd/
idiom
informal
punish or beat severely
To punish someone very strongly, especially by hitting them; often used in a joking or old-fashioned way.
Examples
- If you break that window, your mom will tan your hide.
- The coach threatened to tan their hides if they were late again.
tan up
1/tˈæn ˈʌp/
phrasal verb
informal
gradually become more tanned
To slowly become browner in the sun, especially over several days.
Examples
- My legs are starting to tan up after a week at the beach.
- He always tans up quickly when the weather gets warm.
work on your tan
1/wˈɚk ˈɔn jˈʊɹ tˈæn/
fixed phrase
informal
spend time improving a tan
To relax in the sun so that your skin becomes browner and your tan looks better.
Examples
- She lay on the balcony all afternoon to work on her tan.
- I’m just going to sit by the pool and work on my tan.