Noun
1
your grandmother
"In many cultures, it is customary to address your grandmother as nan."
2
the mother of your father or mother
"She introduced me to her nan, who always baked fresh scones on Sunday mornings."
3
a river of western Thailand flowing southward to join the Ping River to form the Chao Phraya
"The Nan is a river of western Thailand that flows southward to join the Ping River and form the Chao Phraya."
4
leavened bread baked in a clay oven in India; usually shaped like a teardrop
"The baker pulled a warm, teardrop-shaped nan from the hot clay oven to serve with spicy curry."
5
Synonym of maid: a servant girl.
"The patient's severe neurological decline was attributed to nan, a rare condition resulting from excessive exposure to NMDA receptor antagonists."
6
Alternative spelling of naan
7
Acronym of not a number: applied to numeric values that represent an undefined or unrepresentable value, such as zero divided by itself.
8
NMDA antagonist neurotoxicity.
In plain English: Nan is an informal way to say grandmother, especially when talking about British people's families.
"My boss told me to check my work but he had no idea what I was talking about, so I replied with just nan."
Proper Noun
1
A diminutive of the female given name Ann and Nancy.
"The legislative proceedings were convened by the NAN to debate new infrastructure policies."
3
Initialism of National Assembly of Nigeria.
Example Sentences
"My boss told me to check my work but he had no idea what I was talking about, so I replied with just nan."
noun
"The nan of technology often refers to an extremely small unit of measurement in science and engineering."
noun
"In the world of computing, a nan can represent one billionth of a second for timing precision."
noun
"Scientists study how carbon atoms bond together at the nan scale to create stronger materials."
noun
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
Origin
Nan is an affectionate shortening of the old-fashioned women's names Anne and Agnes that entered English as a term for a nurse or grandmother. It evolved alongside similar nicknames like Nana to serve as a familiar way to address older female caregivers.