cuan

See also: cuàn, cuán, cuān, cúan, and cúán

Irish

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kuənˠ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish cúan, from Proto-Indo-European *kapno-, from *keh₂p- (“to grasp”).

Alternative forms

Noun

cuan m (genitive singular cuain, nominative plural cuanta)

  1. bay
    Synonym: bá
  2. harbour
  3. port
    Synonyms: caladh, port
Declension
Declension of cuan

First declension

Bare forms:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative cuan cuanta
Vocative a chuain a chuanta
Genitive cuain cuanta
Dative cuan cuanta

Forms with the definite article:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative an cuan na cuanta
Genitive an chuain na gcuanta
Dative leis an gcuan

don chuan

 leis na cuanta
Derived terms
  • baile cuain m (“harbour town”)
  • caladh cuain m (“wharf, jetty”)
  • Cuan na hAraibe m (“the Arabian Gulf”)
  • cuisle cuain m (“harbour channel”)
  • dícear cuain m (“bay duiker”)
  • vaidhtéir cuain m (“coastguard”)

Etymology 2

Noun

cuan m (genitive singular cuaine, nominative plural cuaineanna)

  1. Alternative form of cuain (“litter; brood; pack; band, company”)
Declension
Declension of cuan

Second declension

Bare forms

Case Singular Plural
Nominative cuan cuaineanna
Vocative a chuan a chuaineanna
Genitive cuaine cuaineanna
Dative cuan cuaineanna

Forms with the definite article

Case Singular Plural
Nominative an chuan na cuaineanna
Genitive na cuaine na gcuaineanna
Dative leis an gcuan

don chuan

 leis na cuaineanna

Mutation
Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
cuan chuan gcuan
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading
  • "cuan" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
  • “2 cúan” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • Entries containing “cuan” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
  • Entries containing “cuan” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Mandarin

Romanization

cuan

  1. Nonstandard spelling of cuān.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of cuán.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of cuàn.

Usage notes
  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kʰuan/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish cúan (“bay, gulf, harbor”), from Proto-Indo-European *kapno-, from *keh₂p- (“to grasp”).

Noun

cuan m (genitive singular cuain, plural cuantan or cuaintean or cuanta)

  1. sea, ocean, the deep
  2. large lake
  3. (rare) harbour, haven, bay
  4. deceit
  5. multitude
Derived terms
  • An Cuan a Tuath m (“North Sea”)
  • An Cuan Innseanach m (“Indian Ocean”)
  • An Cuan Sèimh m (“Pacific Ocean”)
  • An Cuan Siar]] m (“Atlantic Ocean”)
  • an t-àrd-chuan m (“the high sea”)
  • cuan-àrd f (“stormy, tempestuous sea”)
  • cuan-choire m (“gulf, whirlpool”)
  • cuan-mara m (“sea-urchin”)
  • cuan mòr m (“ocean”)
  • cuantach (“seafaring”, adjective)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish cúan (“litter (of pups or other young animals); pack (of dogs, wolves, etc.); family, band, company”), from cú (“hound”).

Noun

cuan m

  1. pack of hounds or wolves

Mutation
Scottish Gaelic mutation
RadicalLenition
cuanchuan
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading
  • Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
  • “1 cúan” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • “2 cúan” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin quam.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kwan/
  • Rhymes: -an

Adverb

cuan

  1. (rare) how, to what extent

Usage notes
  • Used with adjectives and adverbs. Rare in modern speech, usually replaced with que, tan, cuanto, or como de. Written with an accent mark (cuán) when interrogative or exclamative, as in ¿Cuán grande es? or ¡Cuán grande es!
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