can

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Translingual

Symbol

can

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Chambri.

See also

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1

From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (to be able, know how), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (to know how), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence also know). Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Pronunciation notes

  • Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can’t (), in order to differentiate can’t from can, pronounce can as /kɛn/ even when stressed.

Verb

can (third-person singular simple present can, present participle (by suppletion) able, simple past could, past participle (obsolete except in adjectival use) couth)

  1. (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to.
    Antonyms: cannot, can't
    She can speak English, French, and German.
    I can play football.
    • 1449, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting of the Clergie:
      prouyng which eny clerk can or woel or mai make bi eny maner euydence of resoun or of Scripture, and namelich of resoun into the contrarie.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
      If thou canst awake by four o' the clock, / I prithee call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly.
  2. (auxiliary verb, defective) To be able to.
    Synonym: be able to
    Antonyms: cannot, can't
    Can you remember your fifth birthday?
    Animals can experience emotions.
    Can you hear that?
    I can feel the baby moving inside me.
    • 2013 July–August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:
      Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
  3. (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) May; to be permitted or enabled to.
    Synonym: may
    Antonyms: cannot, can't, may not, mayn't
    You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.
    Can I use your pen?
  4. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; to be possible for (someone or something) to.
    Antonyms: cannot, can't
    Can it be Friday already?
    Teenagers can really try their parents' patience.
    • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
      The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?
    • 2009, Annette Sym, Simply Too Good to be True, Greenleaf Book Group, →ISBN, page 4:
      Teenagers can be so cruel, and nicknames cut deep.
  5. (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) Used to form requests, typically polite.
    Can you please come over here?
    Can we try that scene again?
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To know.
    Synonyms: cognize, grok, ken
  7. (India, nonstandard, proscribed) To be (followed by a word like able, possible, allowed). third-person singular simple present indicative of can
    • 2011 November 29, Tai-hoon Kim, Hojjat Adeli, Carlos Ramos, Byeong-Ho Kang, Signal Processing, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition: International Conferences, SIP 2011, Held as Part of the Future Generation Information Technology Conference, FGIT 2011, in Conjunction with GDC 2011, Jeju Island, Korea, December 8-10, 2011. Proceedings, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 114:
      Importance of Identifying Leaf: Identify Plants: If we can able to identify leaf, we can easily able to identify plants.
    • 2018 February 15, Asha Bajpai, Child Rights in India: Law, Policy, and Practice, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
      Children in need of care and protection can allowed to be placed in foster care based on the orders of the CWC. The selection of the foster family is based on the family's ability, intent, capacity, and prior experience of taking care 
    • 2020 May 22, Pardeep Kumar, Vasaki Ponnusamy, Vishal Jain, Industrial Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems: Transforming the Conventional to Digital: Transforming the Conventional to Digital, IGI Global, →ISBN, page 226:
      It can possible to design the ruleset refreshes that allow them to subsequently run at precise interludes and these keep informed.
  8. (Manglish, Singlish, auxiliary or intransitive) To be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context.
    Can anot?You good? Need help?
  9. (Manglish, Singlish, intransitive) To be fine or acceptable; to be possible; (with liao or already) to be enough. Often used in conjunction with a variety of clause-final particles, e.g., lah, meh or one, to express different attitudes towards the subject matter.
    Can liao, don’t need to use so much glue.That’s enough glue already.
    • 2015 September 5, Derrick Ho, Chew Hui Min, Lee Min Kok, Shea Driscoll, Nilanjana Sengupta, Melissa Heng, Ong Hwee Hwee, quoting Lee Hsien Loong, “GE2015: 5 things about the third night of rallies on Sept 4”, in The Straits Times:
      We have been doing this for 50 years, we have shown you what we can do. If I say can, means can.
    • 2021 August 5, Zat Astha, “The Lessons We’re Still Learning Too Slowly About Mental Health and Suicide”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 11 December 2024:
      It’s further exacerbated by well-intentioned but misguided relatives who say, “you’re from School X, can one lah”, or worse, those who associate the very identity of being a student in an elite academy into a label analogous with expectations of high achievements.
    • 2024 June 10, Kimberly Lim, “What’s With Singapore’s Surge in Self-Proclaimed Life Coaches?”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 19 September 2024:
      When controversial KOL Sylvia Chan resurfaced in March as a life coach, the general online sentiment was, “Huh, can meh?”
Usage notes
  • For a missing form, substitute the appropriate inflected form of be able to, as:
    • I might be able to go.
    • (present perfect) I have been able to go, since I was seven.
    • (past perfect) I had been able to go before.
    • (future) I will be able to go tomorrow.
  • For the simple conditional mood or past tense, the auxiliary verb could is commonly used (context usually makes it clear whether conditional or past is intended):
    • (conditional) I could go if it weren't raining is equivalent to I would be able to go if it weren't raining.
    • (past) When I was younger, I could go for miles is equivalent to When I was younger, I was able to go for miles.
  • The present tense negative can not is usually contracted to cannot (more formal) or can’t (less formal).
  • The use of can in asking permission is sometimes criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative “may I...?”.
Conjugation
Conjugation of can
infinitive
present tense past tense
1st-person singular can could, coulde
2nd-person singular can, canst, canest, cannest could, couldst, couldest, could'st
3rd-person singular can, canneth2 could, coulde
plural can
subjunctive can could, coulde
imperative can
participles canning could1, coulde

Archaic or obsolete. 1 Dialectal. 2 Sparsely attested near 1500.

Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also

Interjection

can

  1. (Manglish, Singlish) OK, sure; indicates approval or acknowledgment.
  2. (Manglish, Singlish, with falling or rising-falling pitch) Used to convey reassurance.

Particle

can

  1. (Manglish, Singlish, interrogative) OK?; used at the end of a question when seeking approval or acknowledgment.
    I cut this wire, can?I’ll cut this wire, OK?
    • 1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 8, lines 1–3:
      Can you go collect them or not? The shop is at Jalan Sultan. I’m not free, otherwise I’ll do it myself. Can?
    • 2020 June 29, Poh Yong Han, “A Regular Singaporean’s Guide To Each Party’s Vision For The Economy”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:
      It feels like a cheap gimmick to attract environmentalist types, when I don’t see any concrete policies to address that. If you don’t care, then don’t pretend to care leh. If you care, then make sure you got details to back you up, can?

Etymology 2

From Middle English canne, from Old English canne (glass, container, cup, can), from Proto-Germanic *kannǭ (can, tankard, mug, cup).

Pronunciation

Noun

A can (sense 1) of hair spray with a clear cap.
An unlabeled corrugated can (sense 2), often used to store preserved foods.

can (plural cans)

  1. A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made of metal.
    I keep a can of fuel for emergencies.
    1. A sealed metal container, cylindrical or cuboid in form, typically used to store preserved foods.
      Synonym: (Australia, Britain, and some Commonwealth nations) tin
      Soup in a can lasts for years.
  2. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
  3. (archaic) A chamber pot.
    1. (US, slang) a toilet or lavatory.
      (toilet): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:chamber pot, Thesaurus:toilet
      (place with a toilet): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bathroom
      Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.
      • 1951 July 16, J D Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 35:
        I didn't have anything special to do, so I went down to the can and chewed the rag with him while he was shaving.
      • 1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
        If he was going to hide out in the can, he can just stay there & sleep in the tub.
  4. (childish or vulgar, slang, Canada, US) Buttocks.
  5. (vulgar, slang, Canada, US) The breasts of a woman.
  6. (slang) Jail or prison.
    Bob’s in the can. He won’t be back for a few years.
    • 1988, The Traveling Wilburys, “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, in The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1:
      The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man / Even back in childhood, he wanted to see him in the can
  7. (slang, in the plural) Headphones.
  8. (archaic) A drinking cup.
  9. (nautical) A cylindrical buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
  10. A chimney pot.
  11. (slang, in the plural) An E-meter used in Scientology auditing.
  12. (US, slang) An ounce (or sometimes, two ounces) of marijuana.
    • 1970, California. Supreme Court, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California:
      prosecution for selling and giving away marijuana, the evidence clearly constituted substantial proof that a package purchased by defendant contained marijuana where he requested "four cans" of marijuana to be delivered to himself and
  13. A protective cover for the fuel element in a nuclear reactor.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)

  1. (transitive) To seal in a can.
    They canned air to sell as a novelty to tourists.
  2. (transitive) To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
    They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
  3. (transitive) To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
    He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68:
      My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester - although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside.
  4. (transitive, slang) To shut up.
    Can your gob.
    • 1929, Elmer Rice, Street Scene, New York City: Samuel French, Act II, page 146:
      Maurrant: Aw, can all that talk! You been listenin’ to them bolshevikis, that’s the trouble.
  5. (US, euphemistic, transitive) To fire or dismiss an employee.
    The boss canned him for speaking out.
    • 2022 November 25, B. Cost, “Man wins legal right to be 'boring' at work, gets $3K from company”, in New York Post, NYP Holdings, retrieved 2022-11-27:
      As a result of his refusal, the employee was subsequently canned in 2015 on the basis of "professional inadequacy" and failing to embody the "party" atmosphere that the consultancy was trying to cultivate.
  6. (golf, slang, transitive) To hole the ball.
    • 1958, Dick Mayer, How to Think and Swing Like a Golf Champion, page 186:
      I thought I had canned it, but it just missed, and I tapped in the second one for a par.
  7. (transitive) To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.
Conjugation
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ can, v.1.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.
  • can”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

Afar

Can.

Etymology

Related to Somali caano, Oromo aannan and Saho xan.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈħan/
  • Hyphenation: can

Noun

cán m (plural caanowá f or canooná f)

  1. milk

Declension

Declension of cán
absolutive cán
predicative cána
subjective cán
genitive cantí

References

  • Loren F. Bliese (1981) A Generative Grammar of Afar, Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington (doctoral thesis).
  • E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “can”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
  • Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie), Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem.

Noun

can m (plural cans)

  1. dog

References

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkan/
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Syllabification: can

Noun

can m (plural canes)

  1. dog (animal)

Synonyms

Azerbaijani

Other scripts
Cyrillic ҹан
Abjad جان

Etymology

Old Anatolian Turkish جان (cān), from Persian جان (jân).

Pronunciation

Noun

can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)

  1. soul, spirit
  2. being, creature, life
  3. body (in expressions concerning body sensations)
    Synonym: bədən
    Canım ağrıyır.My body is aching.
    Canıma üşütmə düşdü.My body is shivering.
  4. force, vigour
  5. life (the state of organisms preceding their death)
    canını almaqto kill (literally, “to take the life of”)

Declension

Declension of can
singular plural
nominative cancanlar
definite accusative canıcanları
dative canacanlara
locative candacanlarda
ablative candancanlardan
definite genitive canıncanların
Possessive forms of can
nominative
singular plural
mənim (my) canım canlarım
sənin (your) canın canların
onun (his/her/its) canı canları
bizim (our) canımız canlarımız
sizin (your) canınız canlarınız
onların (their) canı or canları canları
accusative
singular plural
mənim (my) canımı canlarımı
sənin (your) canını canlarını
onun (his/her/its) canını canlarını
bizim (our) canımızı canlarımızı
sizin (your) canınızı canlarınızı
onların (their) canını or canlarını canlarını
dative
singular plural
mənim (my) canıma canlarıma
sənin (your) canına canlarına
onun (his/her/its) canına canlarına
bizim (our) canımıza canlarımıza
sizin (your) canınıza canlarınıza
onların (their) canına or canlarına canlarına
locative
singular plural
mənim (my) canımda canlarımda
sənin (your) canında canlarında
onun (his/her/its) canında canlarında
bizim (our) canımızda canlarımızda
sizin (your) canınızda canlarınızda
onların (their) canında or canlarında canlarında
ablative
singular plural
mənim (my) canımdan canlarımdan
sənin (your) canından canlarından
onun (his/her/its) canından canlarından
bizim (our) canımızdan canlarımızdan
sizin (your) canınızdan canlarınızdan
onların (their) canından or canlarından canlarından
genitive
singular plural
mənim (my) canımın canlarımın
sənin (your) canının canlarının
onun (his/her/its) canının canlarının
bizim (our) canımızın canlarımızın
sizin (your) canınızın canlarınızın
onların (their) canının or canlarının canlarının

Derived terms

Catalan

Pronunciation

Contraction

can

  1. contraction of ca en (the house of)

Further reading

Chinese

Etymology 1

Clipping of English canteen.

Pronunciation


Noun

can

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) canteen; restaurant (in a university campus)

Etymology 2

Clipping of English cancer.

Pronunciation


Noun

can

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) cancer
Synonyms

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Pronoun

cān

  1. where

Derived terms

Emilian

Etymology

From Latin canem.

Pronunciation

Noun

can m (feminine singular câgna, masculine plural can, feminine plural câgni)

  1. dog

Gagauz

Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish جان (cān), from Persian جان (jân). Compare Turkish can, Azerbaijani can.

Pronunciation

Noun

can (definite accusative canı, plural cannar)

  1. an individual's life, soul, life
    canını ortaya koymaa
    to put one's life in line
  2. soul, spirit
  3. life, vigor

Declension

Declension of can
singular (tekil) plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın) can cannar
definite accusative (belirtme) canı cannarı
dative (yönelme) cana cannara
locative (bulunma) canda cannarda
ablative (çıkma) candan cannardan
genitive (tamlayan) canın cannarın

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “can”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
  2. ^ András Rajki, A Concise Gagauz Dictionary with etymologies and Turkish, Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar and Turkmen cognates, 2007

Further reading

  • Kopuşçu M. İ. , Todorova S. A. , Kiräkova T.İ., editors (2019), “can”, in Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 5-12, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN, page 40
  • Mavrodi M. F., editor (2019), “can”, in Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 1-4, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN, page 20

Galician

Can ("dog")

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese can, from Latin canis, canem. Cognate with Portuguese cão.

Noun

can m (plural cans)

  1. dog
    Synonyms: cadelo, cuzo
    Cando o can ladra na rúa, non ladra de balde.
    When the dog barks in the street, it does not bark for nothing
  2. (historical) 20th century 5, 10 cents of peseta coin

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese quan, from Latin quam. Cognate with Portuguese quão and Spanish cuan.

Noun

can m (plural cans)

  1. how

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, ultimately from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan.

Noun

can m (plural cans)

  1. khan

References

Interlingua

Noun

can (plural canes)

  1. dog
  2. cock, hammer (of a firearm)

Irish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Irish canaid, from Proto-Celtic *kaneti (to sing), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-. Compare Welsh canu, Latin canō, Ancient Greek καναχέω (kanakhéō), Persian خواندن (xândan).

Verb

can (present analytic canann, future analytic canfaidh, verbal noun canadh, past participle canta)

  1. to sing
    • 2015 , Will Collins, translated by Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, edited by Maura McHugh, Amhrán na Mara (fiction; paperback), Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Howth, Dublin: Cartoon Saloon; Coiscéim, translation of Song of the Sea (in English), →ISBN, page 1:
      Thuas i dteach an tsolais, faoi réaltaí geala, canann Bronach Amhrán na Mara dá mac Ben atá cúig bliana d'aois.
  2. (Ulster) to speak, talk
    Synonyms: labhair, bí ag caint
Conjugation

Etymology 2

Noun

can m (genitive singular cana)

  1. sawdust, wood shavings
  2. dandruff
Declension
Declension of can (third declension, no plural)
bare forms
singular
nominative can
vocative a chan
genitive cana
dative can
forms with the definite article
singular
nominative an can
genitive an chana
dative leis an gcan
don chan

Etymology 3

Noun

can m

  1. state, condition

Adverb

can

  1. (literary) whence
Derived terms

Mutation

Mutated forms of can
radical lenition eclipsis
can chan gcan

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “canaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Further reading

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin canis.

Noun

can m

  1. dog

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkan/
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Hyphenation: càn

Etymology 1

From Turkic.

Alternative forms

Noun

can m (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) alternative spelling of khan

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

can m (apocopated)

  1. (poetic, literary) apocopic form of cane; dog

Ligurian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem (dog).

Pronunciation

Noun

can m (plural chen, diminutive cagnetto or cagnin, feminine cagna)

  1. dog, male dog

Lombard

Etymology

From Latin Latin canis. Cognate with Italian cane.

Noun

can

  1. dog

Malay

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English chance.

Noun

can

  1. (Malaysia, colloquial) chance (of opportunity)
    Synonym: peluang

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

can (plural can-can)

  1. (Pontianak) job
  2. (Medan) opportunity

Mandarin

Romanization

can

  1. nonstandard spelling of cān
  2. nonstandard spelling of cán
  3. nonstandard spelling of cǎn
  4. nonstandard spelling of càn

Usage notes

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Verb

can

  1. first/third-person singular present indicative of connen

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

can

  1. alternative form of canne

Etymology 2

Verb

can

  1. alternative form of cunnen

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Akin to Central Kurdish, Southern Kurdish and Gurani گیان (gian), Zazaki gan, Persian جان (jân); from Proto-Iranian *wyaHnáH. Badini giyan is borrowed from Sorani.

Pronunciation

Noun

can m

  1. spirit
  2. dear
    Bra can!
    Dear brother!
  3. A suffix for showing endearment mostly used by children towards family members
    Bavo can
    Daddy
    Daê can
    Mommy

Usage notes

In formal settings, can usually cannot be used to mean "dear" and hêja is used instead.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan , from Latin canis, canem.

Pronunciation

Noun

can m (plural cans, feminine canha, feminine plural canhas)

  1. dog, hound

Old English

Verb

can

  1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of cunnan

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin canem (dog), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (dog).

Pronunciation

Noun

can m (plural cans)

  1. dog

Descendants

  • Galician: can
  • Portuguese: cão

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin quandō.

Conjunction

can

  1. when

Adverb

can

  1. (interrogative) when

Descendants

Salar

Etymology

From Persian جان (jân, soul, life, life force).

Pronunciation

  • (Jiezi, Gaizi, Qingshui, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA(key):
  • (Jiezi, Gaizi, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA(key):
  • (Mengda, Qingshui, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA(key):

Noun

can

  1. soul

References

  • Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “can”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká , Moscow, pages 371, 564

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (to be able, know how), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (to know how), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence know).

Verb

can (third-person singular simple present can, simple past cud)

  1. can
  2. be able to
    He shuid can dae that.He should be able to do that.

Derived terms

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish canaid (to sing), from Proto-Celtic *kaneti (to sing), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-. Compare Welsh canu, Latin canō, Ancient Greek καναχέω (kanakhéō), Persian خواندن (xândan).

Verb

can (past chan, future canaidh, verbal noun cantainn or canail or cantail, past participle cante)

  1. to say
    cha chan mi càil mus can mi cusI won't say anything before I've said too much
  2. to sing (a song)
  3. future indicative dependent of can

Usage notes

  • In most dialects of Scottish Gaelic still spoken, with the notable exception of Islay, the future and conditional tenses and the imperative form are very often used for the verb abair in place of the actual abair forms, particularly in colloquial language; the abair forms are recognised but considered Biblical or excessively formal. Some northern dialects, such as Skye and Lewis, extend this to verbal noun forms derived from can, such as cantainn and canail.

References

  • Edward Dwelly (1911) “can”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin canis, canem (dog). Cognate with Catalan ca, Galician can, Portuguese cão.

Pronunciation

Noun

can m (plural canes)

  1. (formal) dog, hound
    Synonyms: perro, (colloquial) chucho

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Further reading

Tày

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Chinese  / .

Adjective

can

  1. dried up
    candried up field
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Chinese .

Noun

can ()

  1. heavenly stem

Verb

can

  1. to concern; to involve
    nắm can lăng thâng teto not have any relations to them

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Vietnamese can.

Verb

can ()

  1. to dissuade
    can nắm hẩư tò đáto dissuade from insults
  2. to warn and advise someone against
    Me̱ can lục bấu pây liê̱u.
    I advise you not to go out.

References

  • Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
  • Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish جان, from Persian جان (jân, soul, vital spirit, life).

Pronunciation

Noun

can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)

  1. soul, life, being
  2. sweetheart

Declension

Declension of can
singular plural
nominative can canlar
definite accusative canı canları
dative cana canlara
locative canda canlarda
ablative candan canlardan
genitive canın canların
Possessive forms
nominative
singular plural
1st singular canım canlarım
2nd singular canın canların
3rd singular canı canları
1st plural canımız canlarımız
2nd plural canınız canlarınız
3rd plural canları canları
definite accusative
singular plural
1st singular canımı canlarımı
2nd singular canını canlarını
3rd singular canını canlarını
1st plural canımızı canlarımızı
2nd plural canınızı canlarınızı
3rd plural canlarını canlarını
dative
singular plural
1st singular canıma canlarıma
2nd singular canına canlarına
3rd singular canına canlarına
1st plural canımıza canlarımıza
2nd plural canınıza canlarınıza
3rd plural canlarına canlarına
locative
singular plural
1st singular canımda canlarımda
2nd singular canında canlarında
3rd singular canında canlarında
1st plural canımızda canlarımızda
2nd plural canınızda canlarınızda
3rd plural canlarında canlarında
ablative
singular plural
1st singular canımdan canlarımdan
2nd singular canından canlarından
3rd singular canından canlarından
1st plural canımızdan canlarımızdan
2nd plural canınızdan canlarınızdan
3rd plural canlarından canlarından
genitive
singular plural
1st singular canımın canlarımın
2nd singular canının canlarının
3rd singular canının canlarının
1st plural canımızın canlarımızın
2nd plural canınızın canlarınızın
3rd plural canlarının canlarının

See also

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem.

Venetan Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia vec

Pronunciation

Noun

can m (plural cani)

  1. (Belluno, Chipilo) dog

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from .

Noun

can

  1. (alternative medicine) liver
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from .

Noun

can

  1. ellipsis of Thiên Can (celestial stem)
Derived terms

Verb

can

  1. to concern; to apply to
  2. to be involved (in); to be implicated (in)
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese (SV: gián).

Verb

can

  1. to dissuade (someone from doing something); to intervene

Etymology 4

From English canne.

Noun

(classifier cây, cái) can

  1. walking stick

Etymology 5

Verb

can

  1. to join; to unite; to sew together

Etymology 6

From French calque.

Verb

can

  1. to trace (through translucent paper), to do tracing
Derived terms

Volapük

Noun

can (nominative plural cans)

  1. sales commodity, merchandise, wares

Declension

Declension of can
singular plural
nominative can cans
genitive cana canas
dative cane canes
accusative cani canis
vocative 1 o can! o cans!
predicative 2 canu canus

1 status as a case is disputed
2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Welsh

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kand- (to shine, glow).

See also Ancient Greek κάνδαρος (kándaros, charcoal), Albanian hënë (moon), Sanskrit चन्द्र (candrá, shining) and Old Armenian խանդ (xand).

Adjective

can (feminine singular can, plural can, equative canned, comparative cannach, superlative cannaf)

  1. bleached, white

Noun

can m (plural caniau)

  1. flour
    Synonyms: blawd, fflŵr, paill, peilliaid

Derived terms

  • cannaid (bright, refulgent)
  • cannu (to bleach, to whiten)

Etymology 2

Welsh numbers (edit)
1,000
, ,  ←  90 , , ,  ←  99 100 120  → , , 200  → 
10,
    Cardinal (vigesimal): pum ugain
    Cardinal: cant, (before nouns) can
    Ordinal: canfed
    Ordinal abbreviation: 100fed

From Middle Welsh and Old Welsh cant, from Proto-Brythonic *kant, from Proto-Celtic *kantom (hundred), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Numeral

can

  1. (cardinal number) apocopic form of cant (one hundred)
Usage notes
  • This is the form the number cant (one hundred) takes when it precedes a noun.

Etymology 3

From English can.

Noun

can m (plural caniau)

  1. a can

Mutation

Mutated forms of can
radical soft nasal aspirate
can gan nghan chan

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

See also

Further reading

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “can”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
  • Definition from the BBC.

Yucatec Maya

Etymology 1

Numeral

can

  1. obsolete spelling of kan

Etymology 2

Noun

can

  1. obsolete spelling of kaan