Tan | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Tān, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. TANNED; p. pr. & vb. n. TANNING.] [Fr. tanner, O. D. tanen, tannen, tegnen, L. Lat. tannare. See infra.]

To convert into leather, as the skins of animals, by steeping them in an infusion of oak or some other bark, by which they are impregnated with tannin, or tannic acid, which exists in several species of bark, and are thus rendered firm, durable, and, in some degree, impervious to water.
To make brown; to imbrown by exposure to the rays of the sun; as, to tan the skin.

Tăn, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To become tanned; as, this leather tans quickly.

Tān, n.

noun

n. [Fr. tan, O. D. tane, tanne, probably from Armor. tann, an oak, and oak-bark, allied to Ger. tanne, a fir.]

Sense 1. The bark of the oak, and some other trees, bruised and broken by a mill, for tanning hides;—so called both before and after it has been used.

Sense 2. A yellowish-brown color, like that of tan.

Sense 3. A browning of the skin by exposure to the sun; as, hands covered with tan.

☞ Tan is sometimes joined with other words, forming compounds of very obvious signification; as, tan-house, tan-pit, and the like.