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khan¹

(kän, kăn)

1. A ruler, an official, or an important person in India and some central Asian countries.

2. A medieval ruler of a Mongol, Tatar, or Turkish tribe.

[Ultimately (partly via Urdu, khān) from Persian khān, from Old Turkic xān, title of subordinate Central Asian khans; akin to Old Turkic xāǧān, overlord of other khans, probably of non-Turkic Central Asian origin. Sense 2, from Middle English caan, chan, from Old French kaan, ultimately (partly via Mongol qā'ān) from Old Turkic xāǧān.]

khan²

(kän, kăn)

A caravansary in certain Asian countries.

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

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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