khan
see also: Khan
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /kɑːn/
  • (Aus, New Zealand, RP) homophones en
  • (America) homophones en
Noun

khan (plural khans)

  1. (historical) A ruler over various Turkish, Tatar and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages.
  2. An Ottoman sultan.
  3. A noble or man of rank in various Muslim countries of Central Asia, including Afghanistan.
Translations Noun

khan (plural khans)

  1. A caravanserai; a resting-place for a travelling caravan.
    • 1923, Powys Mathers, translating The Thousand Nights and One Night:
      ‘Guess the name of that,’ she said, pointing to her delicate parts. The porter tried this name and that and ended by asking her to tell him and cease her slapping. ‘The khān of Abu-Mansur,’ she replied.
    • 1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, page 27:
      At each of these stations there is a hostelry which they call a khan, where travellers alight with their beasts, and outside each khan is a public watering-place and a shop at which the traveller may buy what he requires for himself and his beast.

Khan
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈχɑːn/
Proper noun
  1. A male given name used extensively among Muslims of South Asia.
  2. Surname derived from the given name.



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