Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wan

/wɑn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.80 in modern English

Syllables
wan
IPA
/wɑn/
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Pale, sickly-looking.

adj

Dim, faint.

noun

The quality of being wan; wanness.

Uncountable

noun

A girl or woman.

verb

simple past of win.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English wan, wanne (“grey, leaden; pale grey, ashen; blue-black (like a bruise); dim, faint; dark, gloomy”), from Old English wann (“dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *wannaz (“dark, swart”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Frisian wann, wonn (“dark”). The meaning and sense has been attributed to influence from Proto-Brythonic, Proto-Celtic *wasnos (cf. Welsh gwan. Irish fann).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /wɑn/
  • British English: /wɒn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Antonyms

colorful colorific coloury aurora-colored (US) / aurora-coloured colorful (US) / colourful discolored [⇒ thesaurus] (US obsolete) / discoloured kaleidoscopic many-coloured motley multichromatic multicolor (US) / multicolour

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce wan?
The recorded pronunciation is /wɑn/.
What does wan mean?
Pale, sickly-looking.
Where does wan come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce wan

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wan”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/wɑn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “wan”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “wan” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.