can
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence know). Compare West Frisian kinne, Dutch kunnen, Low German könen, German können, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål kunne, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk kunna, and Afrikaans kan. Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.
Alternative formsEdit
- canne (obsolete)
PronunciationEdit
- (stressed)
- enPR: kăn
- (Received Pronunciation, Ireland) IPA(key): /ˈkæn/, [ˈkʰan], [ˈkʰæn]
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈkæn/, [ˈkʰæn], [ˈkʰɛən], [ˈkʰeən] (see w:/æ/ raising)
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æn
- (unstressed)
VerbEdit
can (third-person singular simple present can, no present participle, simple past could, past participle (obsolete except in adjectival use) couth)
- (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to; to be able to.
- Synonym: be able to
- Antonyms: cannot, can't, can’t
- She can speak English, French, and German. I can play football. Can you remember your fifth birthday?
- 1449, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting [blaming] 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.
- 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.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii]:
- If thou canst awake by four o' the clock, / I prithee call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly.
- (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) May; to be permitted or enabled to.
- Synonym: may
- You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework. Can I use your pen?
- (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible.
- Can it be Friday already?
- Teenagers can really try their parents' patience.
- Animals can experience emotions.
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
- 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, Sym, Annette, Simply Too Good to be True, Greenleaf Book Group, →ISBN, page 4:
- Teenagers can be so cruel, and nicknames cut deep.
- (auxiliary verb, defective) Used with verbs of perception.
- Can you hear that?.
- I can feel the baby moving inside me.
- (obsolete, transitive) To know.
- ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman
- I can rimes of Robin Hood.
- ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman
- I can no Latin, quod she.
- 1593, [William Shakespeare], Venvs and Adonis, London: Imprinted by Richard Field, […], OCLC 837166078; Shakespeare’s Venvs & Adonis: […], 4th edition, London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent and Co. […], 1896, OCLC 19803734:
- Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can.
- ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman
Usage notesEdit
- For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to, as:
- I might be able to go.
- I was able to go yesterday.
- I have been able to go, since I was seven.
- I had been able to go before.
- I will be able to go tomorrow.
- The word could also suffices in many tenses. “I would be able to go” is equivalent to “I could go”, and “I was unable to go” can be rendered “I could not go”. (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, “could verb” means “would be able to verb”, but “could not verb” means “was/were unable to verb”.)
- 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 sometimes is criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative “may I...?”.
- Can is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, “Can you hand me that pen?” as a polite substitution for “Hand me that pen.”
- Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can’t (/kæn(ʔ)/), in order to differentiate can’t from can, pronounce can as /kɛn/ even when stressed.
TranslationsEdit
|
|
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English canne, from Old English canne (“glass, container, cup, can”), from Proto-Germanic *kannǭ (“can, tankard, mug, cup”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gan-, *gandʰ- (“a vessel”). Cognate with Scots can (“can”), West Frisian kanne (“a jug, pitcher”), Dutch kan (“pot, mug”), German Kanne (“can, tankard, mug”), Danish kande (“can, mug, a measure”), Swedish kanna (“can, tankard, mug”), Icelandic kanna (“a can”).
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: kăn, IPA(key): /ˈkæn/
- Rhymes: -æn
- (General Australian, Southern England) IPA(key): /ˈkæːn/
- Rhymes: -æːn
- (æ-tensing) IPA(key): [ˈkeən]
Audio (UK) (file)
NounEdit
can (plural cans)
- A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium, but sometimes of plastic, and with a carrying handle over the top.
- A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
- A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
- (archaic) A chamber pot, now (US, slang) a toilet or lavatory.
- Shit or get off the can.
- Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.
- (US, slang) Buttocks.
- (slang) Jail or prison.
- Bob's in the can. He won't be back for a few years.
- (slang, in the plural) Headphones.
- (archaic) A drinking cup.
- c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or VVhat You VVill”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iii]:
- SIR ANDREW: Nay, my troth, I know not: but I know, to be up late is to be up late.
SIR TOBY: A false conclusion: I hate it as an unfilled can.
- ?, Alfred Tennyson, Vision of Sin
- Fill the cup and fill the can, / Have a rouse before the morn.
- (nautical) A cube-shaped buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
- A chimney pot.
- (slang, in the plural) An E-meter used in Scientology auditing.
- (US, slang) An ounce (or sometimes, two ounces) of marijuana.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:can.
- 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 […]
SynonymsEdit
- (toilet): See Thesaurus:chamber pot and Thesaurus:toilet
- (place with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
- (cylindrical metal container): tin (British & Australian at least)
HyponymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
|
|
|
|
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
VerbEdit
can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)
- To seal in a can.
- They canned air to sell as a novelty to tourists.
- To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
- They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
- 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.
- (transitive, slang) To shut up.
- Can your gob.
- (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
- The boss canned him for speaking out.
- (golf, slang, transitive) To hole the ball.
- 1958, Mayer, Dick, 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.
SynonymsEdit
- (discard): bin, dump, scrap; see also Thesaurus:junk
- (shut up): can it, stifle; see also Thesaurus:stop talking or Thesaurus:make silent
- (dismiss an employee): axe, let go, shit-can; see also Thesaurus:lay off
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
|
|
|
AnagramsEdit
AfarEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Cushitic [Term?]. Cognates include Somali caano and Oromo aannan.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
cán m (plural caanowá f)
InflectionEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Loren F. Bliese (1981) A Generative Grammar of Afar[1], Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington (doctoral thesis).
- Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)[2], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)
AragoneseEdit
EtymologyEdit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
NounEdit
can m (plural cans)
ReferencesEdit
- Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) , “can”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN
AsturianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin canis, canem.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m (plural canes)
- dog (animal)
SynonymsEdit
AzerbaijaniEdit
Other scripts | ||
---|---|---|
Cyrillic | ҹан | |
Roman | can | |
Perso-Arabic | جان |
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)
DeclensionEdit
Derived termsEdit
CatalanEdit
PronunciationEdit
ContractionEdit
can
Further readingEdit
- “can” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Classical NahuatlEdit
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
cān
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
GalicianEdit
Alternative formsEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Galician and Old Portuguese can, from Latin canis, canem. Cognate with Portuguese cão.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m (plural cans)
- dog
- (historical) 20th century 5, 10 cents of peseta coin
Related termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Old Galician and Old Portuguese quan, from Latin quam. Cognate with Portuguese quão and Spanish cuan.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m (plural cans)
Etymology 3Edit
Ultimately from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m (plural cans)
ReferencesEdit
- “can” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
- “can” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
- “can” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
- “can” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “can” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
InterlinguaEdit
NounEdit
can (plural canes)
IrishEdit
EtymologyEdit
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).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
can (present analytic canann, future analytic canfaidh, verbal noun canadh, past participle canta)
- to sing
- 2015, Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, transl.; Maura McHugh, editor, Amhrán na Mara (fiction, paperback), Kilkenny, County Kilkenny; Howth, Dublin: Cartoon Saloon; Coiscéim, translation of Song of the Sea by Will Collins, →ISBN, page 1:
- Thuas i dteach an tsolais, faoi réaltaí geala, canann Bronach Amhrán na Mara dá mac Ben atá cúig bliana d'aois.
- Up in the lighthouse, under twinkling stars, Bronach sings the Song of the Sea to her five-year-old son, Ben.
ConjugationEdit
* Indirect relative
† Archaic or dialect form
‡‡ Dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis
MutationEdit
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
can | chan | gcan |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
IstriotEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
can m
ItalianEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Turkic.
Alternative formsEdit
NounEdit
can m (invariable)
- Obsolete spelling of khan
Etymology 2Edit
See the etymology of the main entry.
NounEdit
can m (plural cani)
LigurianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin canis, canem.
NounEdit
can m (plural chen)
MandarinEdit
RomanizationEdit
can
- Nonstandard spelling of cān.
- Nonstandard spelling of cán.
- Nonstandard spelling of cǎn.
- Nonstandard spelling of càn.
Usage notesEdit
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Middle DutchEdit
VerbEdit
can
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
NounEdit
can
- Alternative form of canne
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
can
- Alternative form of cunnen
Northern KurdishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Related to Persian جان (jân).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can ?
OccitanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin canis, canem.
NounEdit
can m (plural cans, feminine canha, feminine plural canhas)
Old OccitanEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
ConjunctionEdit
can
- when
- circa 1200, Peire Vidal, Ab l'alen tir vas me l'aire:
- Tan m'es bel quan n'aug ben dire.
- So much it pleases me when I hear it spoken of well.
AdverbEdit
can
- (interrogative) when
DescendantsEdit
Old PortugueseEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin canis (“dog”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (“dog”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m
- dog
- 13th century, Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, Alfonso X of Castile, B 476: Non quer'eu donzela fea (facsimile)
- Non quereu donzela fea / E ueloſa come cam
- I do not want an ugly maiden, as hairy as a dog
- Non quereu donzela fea / E ueloſa come cam
- 13th century, Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, Alfonso X of Castile, B 476: Non quer'eu donzela fea (facsimile)
DescendantsEdit
ScotsEdit
EtymologyEdit
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).
VerbEdit
can (third-person singular present can, past cud)
- can
- be able to
- He shuid can dae that. ― He should be able to do that.
Derived termsEdit
- cannae (“cannot”)
Scottish GaelicEdit
EtymologyEdit
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).
VerbEdit
can (past chan, future canaidh, verbal noun cantainn, past participle cante)
- to say
ReferencesEdit
- “can” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic–English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, →ISBN.
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin canis, canem (compare Romanian câine, Aromanian cãne, Catalan ca, Occitan can, French chien, Italian cane, Portuguese cão), from Proto-Italic *kō (accusative *kwanem), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (accusative *ḱwónm̥).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m (plural canes)
HypernymsEdit
HyponymsEdit
Related termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “can” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
TurkishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowing from Persian جان (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”). Cognate with English quick.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)
DeclensionEdit
Inflection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | can | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Definite accusative | canı | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nominative | can | canlar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Definite accusative | canı | canları | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dative | cana | canlara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locative | canda | canlarda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ablative | candan | canlardan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genitive | canın | canların | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
See alsoEdit
VenetianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin canis, canem.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
can m (plural cani)
VietnameseEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Sino-Vietnamese word from 肝.
NounEdit
can
Etymology 2Edit
Sino-Vietnamese word from 干.
NounEdit
can
- Short for Thiên Can (“celestial stem”).
VerbEdit
can
- to concern; to apply to
- to be involved (in); to be implicated (in)
Etymology 3Edit
Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 諫 (SV: gián).
VerbEdit
can
Etymology 4Edit
NounEdit
Etymology 5Edit
VerbEdit
can
Etymology 6Edit
VerbEdit
can
- to trace (through translucent paper), to do tracing
Derived termsEdit
VolapükEdit
NounEdit
can (nominative plural cans)
- sales commodity, merchandise, wares
DeclensionEdit
WelshEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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).
AdjectiveEdit
can (feminine singular can, plural can, equative canned, comparative cannach, superlative cannaf)
NounEdit
can m (plural caniau)
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Proto-Celtic *kantom (“hundred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.
NumeralEdit
can
Usage notesEdit
This is the form the number cant (“hundred”) takes when it precedes a noun.
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
can m (plural caniau)
- a can
MutationEdit
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
can | gan | nghan | chan |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
See alsoEdit
Further readingEdit
- 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 MayaEdit
Etymology 1Edit
NumeralEdit
can
- Obsolete spelling of kan
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
can
- Obsolete spelling of kaan