• enPR: văn, IPA: /væn/

Short for caravan.

van (plural vans)

1. A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus.

   Synonyms: minivan, minibus

   The van sped down the road.

2. (British) An enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van.
3. (dated) A light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.
4. (aerospace) A large towable vehicle equipped for the repair of structures that cannot easily be moved.
   • 1959, Western Aerospace, volume 39, page 46:

     Designed to be fully mobile and self-contained, the complete equipment includes an air-conditioned van containing all necessary electronic gear and a flat bed trailer in which missiles, jet engines and other large assemblies may be cleaned.

• French: fourgon, fourgonnette, camionnette
• German: Transporter, Lieferwagen
• Italian: furgone
• Portuguese: furgão, van
• Russian: фурго́н
• Spanish: furgoneta, furgón, van

• Italian: vagone merci
• Portuguese: vagão
• Russian: ваго́н
• Spanish: vagón

van (vans, present participle vanning; simple past and past participle vanned)

1. (transitive) To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).
2. (internet slang, used in passive voice) Of law enforcement: to arrest (not necessarily in a van; derived from party van).
   • 2011, The hackers hacked: main Anonymous IRC servers invaded‎:

     One Anon explained the reason for this, saying: "As for the domains, they were transferred to Ryan after some of us got vanned so he can keep the network up. What he did certainly wasn't the plan." (Getting "vanned" refers to getting picked up by the police.)

   • 2012, FBI names, arrests Anon who infiltrated its secret conference call‎:

     He later told CW that he had been "v&" or "vanned" by the police, and he expressed surprise that the police showed him detailed transcripts of his conversations.

   • 2013, Redditor Confesses to Murder with Meme, Gets Doxed by Other Redditors, Deletes His Account and Disappears‎:

     But not before someone supposedly forwarded all the information onto the FBI. In a last-ditch effort to avoid getting "vanned," Naratto tried to put the memie back in the bottle

   • 2015 13-year-old credited with hacking CIA director’s AOL account gives bizarre, possibly final interview ↗

     The hacker says he thinks he is about to be v&, or “vanned,” meaning being raided by law enforcement, sometime soon.

   • 2016, Teen Allegedly Behind CIA, FBI Breaches: 'They're Trying to Ruin My Life.'‎:

     On Wednesday night, Motherboard spoke to the teenager accused of being Cracka. "I got fucking v&," he told Motherboard, using "v&," the slang for "vanned," or getting arrested. (At this point, the arrest had not been made public.)

Shortening of vanguard.

van (plural vans)

1. Clipping of vanguard
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC ↗:

     As for the guides, they were debarred from the pleasure of discourse, the one being placed in the van, and the other obliged to bring up the rear.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:

     We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.

From Cornish -.

van (plural vans)

1. (mining) A shovel used in cleansing ore.

van (vans, present participle vanning; simple past and past participle vanned)

1. (mining) To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel.

From Latin vannus: compare French van and English fan, winnow.

van (plural vans)

1. A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.
2. A wing with which the air is beaten.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain'd. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC ↗, pages 108–109 ↗, lines 578–580:

     So Satan fell; and ſtrait a fiery Globe / Of Angels on full ſail of wing flew nigh, / Who on their plumy Vans receiv'd him ſoft […]

• vane

• IPA: /væn/

Shortening.

1. A male given name.
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor:

     'Beautiful idea,' said Van as he helped Ada to heat the tank, fill the old battered bath and warm a couple of towels.

2. A city in Van Zandt County, Texas.

Shortening.

1. A female given name.

From Turkish Van, from Ottoman Turkish وان, from axm Վան.

1. A large saline tectonic lake of the Armenian Highland in eastern Turkey, famous for its Chalcalburnus tarichi (syn. Alburnus tarichi) fish and the 10th century Armenian cathedral on Akhtamar Island.
2. A city on the shore of that lake, the capital of Van.
3. A province in Turkey.

• German: Van
• Russian: Ван

• German: Van
• Russian: Ван

Abbreviation of Vancouver.

1. Abbreviation of Vancouver

• East Van
• North Van
• South Van
• West Van

Backformed from Van cat and Turkish Van.

van (plural vans)

1. A Van cat.
2. A Turkish Van cat.

van (plural vans)

1. Abbreviation of value-added network

1. Abbreviation of Vancouver

• (Vancouver) YVR