tan
tan — 名詞
1. the darker colour your skin turns after you have spent time in the sun
曬黑
皮膚因日曬變深的褐色
the darker colour your skin turns after you have spent time in the sun
After two weeks at the beach, Keiko came home with a deep tan.
在海灘待了兩週後，Keiko 帶著一身曬得黝黑的肌膚回到家。
collocation: deep tan / light tan / golden tan
Mei applied sunscreen every hour but still got a noticeable tan.
Mei 每小時都塗防曬乳，但還是曬出了明顯的黝黑膚色。
By the time winter arrived, Tomás's tan had almost completely faded.
到了冬天，Tomás 的古銅色肌膚幾乎完全變回原色了。
Some people use spray products to get a tan without lying in the sun.
有些人使用噴霧產品來獲得古銅膚色，而不必躺在太陽底下。
- pallor
medical/literary term for pale skin, the opposite of a tan
文法句型
have/get + a + tan
a + adjective + tan
2. a light brown colour with a slight yellow tone, like the colour of sand or light
黃褐色
帶有黃色的淺棕色
a light brown colour with a slight yellow tone, like the colour of sand or light leather
Minh painted her living room walls a soft tan that went well with the wooden floor.
Minh 把客廳牆壁漆成一種柔和溫暖的黃褐色，和木地板很搭。
noun: a shade of tan as a wall colour
The jacket comes in three colours: olive, tan, and navy.
這件外套有三種顏色：橄欖綠、黃褐色和海軍藍。
Ravi's favourite pair of walking boots are made of tan leather.
Ravi 最喜歡的那雙登山靴是黃褐色皮革製成的。
The desert landscape was a mix of pale tan and dusty orange under the midday sun.
正午陽光下，沙漠景色交織著淺黃褐色與灰塵般的橘色。
- white
at the opposite end of the lightness scale
文法句型
a shade/pale/dark + tan
用法筆記
Used as a colour name in fashion, interior design, and product descriptions. Often modified by adjectives like 'pale', 'warm', or 'rich'.
tan — 形容詞
1. having a light brown colour with a yellow tone
黃褐色的
淺棕色帶有黃色色調的
having a light brown colour with a yellow tone
Dr. Okafor wore a tan suit to the graduation ceremony.
Okafor 醫生穿著一套黃褐色西裝參加畢業典禮。
tan + clothing item
The old photograph had turned a uniform tan colour over the decades.
經過幾十年，那張老照片褪成了均勻的黃褐色。
A tan carpet hides dirt better than a white one does.
黃褐色的地毯比白色地毯更不容易看出髒汙。
The Watanabe family bought a tan sofa for their new living room.
Watanabe 一家為他們的新客廳買了一張黃褐色的沙發。
- beige
lighter and less yellow; tan is warmer
- camel-coloured
similar but refers specifically to the colour of camel hair
- fawn
paler and more greyish-brown
- white
the direct opposite of tan as a colour
文法句型
tan + noun
tan — 動詞
1. if your skin tans, or if sunlight tans it, your skin gets darker after time spen
曬黑
皮膚因日曬而變深色
if your skin tans, or if sunlight tans it, your skin gets darker after time spent outdoors in sunny weather
My skin tans easily, but my sister always burns instead.
我的皮膚很容易曬黑，但我妹妹一曬就曬傷。
contrast: tan vs burn in sun
The summer sun had tanned Sora's arms and face during the hiking trip.
夏天的陽光讓 Sora 的手臂和臉在健行途中曬成了古銅色。
transitive: sun tans a body part
Fatima tanned quickly during the vacation in Thailand.
Fatima 在泰國度假時很快就曬黑了。
Sunbathers lay on the white sand, hoping to tan before the wedding.
日光浴者躺在白色沙灘上，期盼在婚禮前曬出一身古銅色。
The lifeguard's shoulders were tanned a deep brown from working outdoors all summer.
那位救生員整夏天在戶外工作，肩膀被曬成了深褐色。
- burn
the opposite result from too much sun — red instead of brown
文法句型
someone + tans
the sun + tans + someone
someone + tans + body part
用法筆記
The intransitive form (someone tans) is the most common. The transitive form (the sun tans someone) is less frequent but natural in descriptions of outdoor life.
常見錯誤
2. to treat the skin of a dead animal with chemicals or natural substances to turn
鞣皮
將獸皮加工成皮革
to treat the skin of a dead animal with chemicals or natural substances to turn it into leather that can be used for making clothes, bags, or shoes
The workshop showed visitors how workers tan cowhide into leather for belts and bags.
工作坊向訪客展示師傅如何將牛皮鞣製成製作皮帶與包包的皮革。
tan + hide + into + leather
Traditional methods tan animal hides using tree bark rich in tannin.
傳統方法以富含單寧酸的樹皮來鞣製獸皮。
The factory out in the countryside tans thousands of sheepskins every single month.
那座位在鄉間的工廠每個月要鞣製數千張羊皮。
Before synthetic materials existed, every community had to tan leather by hand.
在合成材料問世之前，每個社群都得靠手工鞣製皮革。
- cure
broader — can mean preserving skin or meat by salting or drying, not specifically with tannin
文法句型
tan + animal skin/hide
用法筆記
Used in craft and industrial contexts. The noun 'tannery' refers to a place where animal skins are tanned. The word 'tannin' (the chemical that tans) shares the same root.
常見錯誤
3. to hit or beat someone hard as a punishment — now mostly used in humorous or old
痛打
毆打作為懲罰（老式用語）
to hit or beat someone hard as a punishment — now mostly used in humorous or old-fashioned expressions
Grandpa used to joke that he would tan our hides if we ever touched his tools.
爺爺以前總笑說，如果我們膽敢碰他的工具，他就要把我們的屁股打開花。
fixed phrase: tan someone's hide
The old headmaster threatened to tan the boys for sneaking out after dark.
那位老校長威脅說，要痛打那些天黑後溜出去的男生。
In that old novel, the farmer vows to tan his son's hide for letting the sheep wander off.
在那本老小說裡，農夫發誓要把兒子的屁股打開花，因為他讓羊群跑散了。
- praise
the opposite of punishing
文法句型
tan + someone + 's + hide
tan + someone
用法筆記
This sense is informal and noticeably old-fashioned. Today it survives mainly in the fixed expression 'tan someone's hide' and is used more for humorous effect than as a real threat.
常見錯誤
tan — 縮寫
1. a shortened form of the word tangent, used in trigonometry and geometry to descr
tan
正切函數的縮寫
a shortened form of the word tangent, used in trigonometry and geometry to describe the ratio of sides in a right-angled triangle
To find the missing side length, use tan 30° = opposite ÷ adjacent.
要算出缺失的邊長，使用 tan 30° = 對邊 ÷ 鄰邊。
formula: tan + angle = opposite / adjacent
The maths teacher wrote 'tan θ' on the board and explained how to calculate it.
數學老師在黑板上寫下「tan θ」，然後解釋如何計算。
On most scientific calculators, the tan button is located next to sin and cos.
在多數科學型計算機上，tan 鍵就在 sin 和 cos 旁邊。
Aylin used tan 35° to calculate the height of the building from its shadow.
Aylin 用 tan 35° 從建築物的影子計算出它的高度。
Hana worked out the slope of the ramp by computing tan of the angle.
Hana 透過計算該角度的 tan 值來求出坡道的坡度。
文法句型
tan + angle
用法筆記
Always written in lowercase roman type (not italic). Commonly appears in mathematics textbooks and on scientific calculators alongside 'sin' and 'cos'.