I. tan¹ /tæn/ verb (past tense and past participle tanned, present participle tanning)
[Date: 900-1000; Language: Old French; Origin: tanner, from Medieval Latin tannare, from tanum; ⇒ tan²]

1. [intransitive and transitive] if you tan, or if the sun tans you, your skin becomes darker because you spend time in the sun:
She has a pale skin which doesn’t tan easily.

2. [transitive] to make animal skin into leather by treating it with tannin (=a kind of acid)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. tan² noun
[Sense 1-2: Date: 1600-1700; Language: French; Origin: Medieval Latin tanum 'plant substance used for tanning leather']
[Sense 3: Origin: tangent]

1. [countable] the attractive brown colour that someone with pale skin gets after they have been in the sun Synonym : suntan:
I wish I could get a tan like that.

2. [uncountable] a light yellowish-brown colour

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

III. tan³ adjective

1. having a light yellowish-brown colour:
tan shoes

2. American English having darker skin after spending time in the sun Synonym : tanned:
She arrived home tan and rested.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

tan
noun
ADJ. deep, golden | healthy | all-over | fake
VERB + TAN have | show off, sport Show off your tan in this little white top.
get, top up, work on I want to top up my tan on the sunbed at the gym.
PREP. against your ~ His teeth were a gleaming flash of white against his tan.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲