quan

See also: quàn, quán, quân, quān, quăn, quǎn, quản, quấn, quần, quẩn, and quận

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin quandō. Compare Catalan quan.

Pronoun

quan

1. when

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan quant~quand~quan~can~cant, from Latin quandō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈkwan]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: quant (Central)

Adverb

quan

1. when

   Sabeu quan arribaran?

   Do you know when they will arrive?

References

• “quan” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “quan”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “quan” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “quan” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Ido

Pronoun

quan

1. (interrogative) whom (object)

Usage notes

To ask for a subject, use qua instead.

Kavalan

Noun

quan

1. sprout from the stump

Mandarin

Romanization

quan

1. Nonstandard spelling of quān.
2. Nonstandard spelling of quán.
3. Nonstandard spelling of quǎn.
4. Nonstandard spelling of quàn.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

quan

1. (Northern) Alternative form of whan

Etymology 2

Adverb

quan

1. Alternative form of whanne

Conjunction

quan

1. Alternative form of whanne

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan quan (compare Catalan quan), from Latin quando (compare French quand).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Gascony):

  (file)

Adverb

quan

1. when

Old Occitan

Adverb

quan

1. Alternative form of can

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kwaːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kwaːŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [waːŋ˧˧]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 官.

Noun

quan

1. (historical) mandarin

   Bẩm quan, con thật tình không biết ạ.

   My Lord, I frankly do not know.

2. (informal) official

   Synonym: quan chức

See also

• bá quan
• ô ăn quan
• quan chức
• quan khách
• quan lại
• quan liêu
• quan lộ
• Quan thoại
• quan viên
• sĩ quan

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 貫 (“string”).

Noun

quan

1. (historical) string of six hundred coins.

   Xin ông coi một đồng nầy có lỗ vuông giữa, chúng tôi quen xỏ sáu trăm đồng thể ấy cùng nhau, ấy là một quan.

   Look at this penny which has a square hole in the middle, we string six hundred of these together; and these form what we call a quan or bundle.