nan
UK[næn]US[nɑːn]
n
A child's word for a grandmother.
n
(British, informal) A flat, leavened bread of West and South Asian origin, typically baked in a clay oven.
Etymology
The word 'nan' carries two distinct etymological journeys. In its familial sense, it is a simple, affectionate nursery word, formed by the reduplication common in child speech, evolving from 'nanny' or the even simpler 'anna'. Its culinary meaning represents a direct borrowing into English from South Asian languages during the British colonial period. This sense traces back through Persian 'nān' (bread) to the Proto-Indo-European root nokʷt-, meaning "night". The semantic link originates from the ancient practice of baking bread in the evening for consumption, connecting the concept of the daily staple to the time of day it was traditionally prepared.
Analysis
The word is a simplex loanword. As a term for a grandmother, it originates as a childish reduplication from 'nanny' or 'anna'. As a term for bread, it is a loanword from various Indo-Iranian languages (e.g., Persian, Urdu, Hindi), itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European root nokʷt- ("night"), via the idea of baking bread for the evening meal.
Examples
We're going to visit Nan on Sunday.
The curry was served with a warm, fluffy garlic nan.
He learned his grandmother's recipe from his nan.