fan.
A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
Meaning & usage
A hand-held device consisting of concertinaed material, or slats of material, gathered together at one end, that may be opened out into the shape of a sector of a circle and waved back and forth in order to move air towards oneself and cool oneself.
An electrical or mechanical device for moving air, used for cooling people, machinery, etc.
He didn't switch on the fan because the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.
The action of fanning; agitation of the air.
Anything resembling a hand-held fan in shape, e.g., a peacock’s tail.
An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away.
A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock mill always in the direction of the wind.
A group of overlapping cards exposed in various patience games.
A section of a tree having a finite number of branches.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”). Cognates * Latin ventus (“wind”) * Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”) * German Wanne (“winnowing basket”) * Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”) * Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”). More at winnow.
To blow air on (something) by means of a fan (hand-held, mechanical or electrical) or otherwise.
We enjoyed standing at the edge of the cliff, being fanned by the wind.
To slap (a behind, especially).
To move or spread in multiple directions from one point, in the shape of a hand-held fan.
To dispel by waving a hand-held fan.
I attempted to fan the disagreeable odour out of the room.
To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.
To invigorate, like flames when fanned.
To winnow grain.
To apply (the air brake) many times in rapid succession.
Fanning the brakes results in the gradual depletion of the pressure in the cars' brake reservoirs, which can eventually cause a loss of all braking.
To strike out.
To strike out (a batter).
To fail to properly shoot or pass the puck.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”). Cognates * Latin ventus (“wind”) * Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”) * German Wanne (“winnowing basket”) * Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”) * Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”). More at winnow.
A person who is fond of something or someone, especially an admirer of a performer or aficionado of a sport.
I am a big fan of libraries.
I am a big fan of cricket.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Latin fānāticuslbor. ▲ French fanatiqueinflu. English fanatic English fancyinflu. English fan Clipping of fanatic, originally in US baseball slang. Possibly influenced by fancy (“group of sport or hobby enthusiasts”), i.e. fancy boy (“fan”).
A unit of length, equivalent to 0.1 tsun (0.01 chek), or 0.00371475 metres.
Where this word comes from
From Cantonese 分. Doublet of fen and hoon.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.