Wiktionary

scan

English Edit

Etymology Edit

From late Middle English scanne (“to mark off verse to show metrical structure”), from earlier scanden, from Late Latin scandere (“to scan verse”), from Classical Latin scandō (“I climb, rise, mount”), from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump, dart, climb, scale, scan”).

Pronunciation Edit

  • IPA(key): /skæn/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æn

Verb Edit

scan (third-person singular simple present scans, present participle scanning, simple past and past participle scanned)

  1. (transitive) To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely. [from 16th C.]
    She scanned the passage carefully but could not find what she was looking for.
    • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter ii:
      Yet the incident did not in the least diminish my respect for my teacher. I was by nature blind to the faults of elders. Later I came to know of many other failings of this teacher, but my regard for him remained the same. For I had learnt to carry out the orders of elders, not to scan their actions.
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.
  2. (transitive) To look about for; to look over quickly. [from 19th C.]
    He scanned the horizon.
    1. (computing, transitive) To inspect, analyse or go over, often to find something.
      to scan the hard drive for errors
    2. (computing, transitive) To perform lexical analysis; to tokenize.
  3. (computing, medicine, transitive) To create an image of something with the use of a scanner.
    to scan a photograph
    to scan internal organs by means of computed tomography
    Pencil drawings don't scan very well.
  4. (computing, transitive) To read with an electronic device.
    to scan a barcode
    to scan a QR code
  5. (obsolete, transitive, originally) To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
  6. (poetry, transitive) To read or mark so as to show a specific metre. [from 14th C.]
    to scan verse
    1. (intransitive) To conform to a metrical structure.
      • 1998, Milton Acorn, Cedric Smith, edited by James Deahl, The Road to Charlottetown: A Play‎[1], UnMon Northland:
        You're right, sir, it doesn't scan very well in the English, but in the Gaelic it's sheer poetry. Have you the Gaelic?

Usage notes Edit

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Related terms Edit

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Noun Edit

scan (plural scans)

  1. Close investigation. [from 1700s]
  2. (computing) An instance of scanning.
    The operators vacated the room during the scan.
  3. (computing) The result or output of a scanning process.
    The doctors looked at the scans and made a diagnosis.

Derived terms Edit

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See also Edit

Further reading Edit

Anagrams Edit

Romanian Edit

Noun Edit

scan m (plural scani)

  1. Obsolete form of scaun.

Declension Edit

Declension of scan
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) scan scanul (niște) scani scanii
genitive/dative (unui) scan scanului (unor) scani scanilor
vocative scanule scanilor

References Edit

  • scan in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN
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