Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A ruler, an official, or an important person in India and some central Asian countries.
  • noun A medieval ruler of a Mongol, Tatar, or Turkish tribe.
  • noun A caravansary in certain Asian countries.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One of a class of unfurnished inns in Turkish and some other Oriental lands, generally belonging to the government.
  • noun The title of sovereign princes in Tatar countries, whose dominions are known as khanates, and of nomadic chiefs and various state officers in Persia; also, one of the titles of the. sultan of Turkey.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A king; a prince; a chief; a governor; -- so called among the Tartars, Turks, and Persians, and in countries now or formerly governed by them.
  • noun An Eastern inn or caravansary.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun after Genghis Khan, a ruler over various Turkish, Tatar and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages
  • noun an Ottoman sultan
  • noun a noble or man of rank in various Muslim countries of Central Asia, including Afghanistan
  • noun a caravanserai; a resting-place for a travelling caravan

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an inn in some eastern countries with a large courtyard that provides accommodation for caravans
  • noun a title given to rulers or other important people in Asian countries

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English chan, from Old French can, from Turkish khān (from Old Turkic qaghan) and from Mongolian qā'ān, ruler.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Arabic ḫān, inn, from Persian khān, house, from Middle Persian.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French chan or Latin chanis, from Turkish han ("lord, prince") (borrowed into Arabic, Persian, Mongolian etc.).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Persian خانه (xâne, "house").

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Examples

Comments

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  • KHAAAAAAAAAN!

    April 4, 2007

  • "… that by the time we reached the gate of the necropolis, the statue of Night atop the khan on the opposite bank was a minute scratch of black against the sun’s field of flame, …"

    —Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun

    September 25, 2008