Where does “tan” come from?
tan (Middle French) comes from Old French tan, from Latin tannum, from Gaulish tannos, from Proto-Celtic tannos, from Proto-Indo-European dʰonu — fir.
Ancestry of “tan”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | tan | pulped oak bark used in the tanning process |
| 2 | Latin | tannum | oak bark |
| 3 | Gaulish | tannos | — |
| 4 | Proto-Celtic | tannos | green oak |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰonu | fir |