I. tan 1 /tæn/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle tanned , present participle tanning )
[ Date: 900-1000 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: tanner , from Medieval Latin tannare , from tanum ; ⇨ ↑ tan 2 ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] if you tan, or if the sun tans you, your skin becomes darker because you spend time in the sun:
She has a pale skin which doesn’t tan easily.
2 . [transitive] to make animal skin into leather by treating it with ↑ tannin (=a kind of acid)
II. tan 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1-2: Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: Medieval Latin tanum 'plant substance used for tanning leather' ]
[ Sense 3: Origin: tangent ]
1 . [countable] the attractive brown colour that someone with pale skin gets after they have been in the sun SYN suntan :
I wish I could get a tan like that.
2 . [uncountable] a light yellowish-brown colour
III. tan 3 BrE AmE adjective
1 . having a light yellowish-brown colour:
tan shoes
2 . American English having darker skin after spending time in the sun SYN tanned :
She arrived home tan and rested.