flan

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed around 1846 from French flan (“cheesecake, custard tart, flan”), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (“pie; cake”)), from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþō (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“broad, flat”); compare German Fladen. Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”). Doublet of flathe.

Although the -n is generally believed to derive from the Late Latin accusative form (fladonem) of fladō (“flat cake”), it might alternatively derive from an inflected form of the Frankish word (such as the Frankish accusative *flaþan, or the like). For a similar case, see garden.

A savory flan (non-dessert)

A flan (custard dessert) from India

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /flæn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /flɑn/
• Rhymes: -æn, -ɑːn

Noun

flan (plural flans)

1. (chiefly UK, Australia) Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)
   • 2004, Shawn Blore, Alexandra de Vries, Frommer's Brazil, →ISBN, page 175:

     The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes such as the […] broccoli flan.

2. (chiefly US, Belize) A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries.

   Synonym: crème caramel

3. (numismatics) A coin die. (Compare planchet.)

Usage notes

• In the UK and Australia, flan usually refers to a baked tart (sense 1), and would only refer to a custard dessert (sense 2) rarely and in the context of the cuisine of Latin American or Mediterranean countries which use the word in that way. In the US, flan usually refers to the (Latin American-derived) custard dessert (sense 2), though uses of sense 1 can also be found.

Related terms

• flathe
• flathon
• flawn
• leche flan

Translations

baked sweet or savoury tart

• Bulgarian: плодова пита f (plodova pita)
• Esperanto: flano
• Finnish: avoin torttu
• Icelandic: bakaður búðingur m
• Indonesian: flan
• Portuguese: flã (pt) m

custard dessert

• Esperanto: flaŭno
• Finnish: karamellivanukas
• Japanese: プリン (ja) (purin), フラン (ja) (furan), カスタードプディング (kasutādo pudingu)
• Spanish: flan (es) m

See also

• custard

Etymology 2

Verb

flan (third-person singular simple present flans, present participle flanning, simple past and past participle flanned)

1. (architecture) To splay or bevel internally, as a window-pane.

Derived terms

• flanning

Etymology 3

English, from a slip of the tongue by actor Nathan Fillion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Noun

flan (plural flans)

1. (informal, fandom slang) A fan of the U.S. TV series Firefly.

   Synonym: Browncoat

   • 2005 January 29, P. Burrows, “Re: Name for Lost fans?”, in rec.arts.sf.tv‎^[1] (Usenet):

     (some) Firefly flans call themselves Browncoats (Remember, the hot movie from Universal is out this September! :)

   • 2006 June 18, Geoff Aldrich, “Re: SciFi promotion [Was Firefly fans skew older?]”, in alt.tv.firefly‎^[2] (Usenet):

     For what it's worth, I'm 27 and am a huge Firefly/Serenity flan.

   • 2007 January 21, Tal, “Re: Nude Jewel Staite? Close enough.”, in alt.tv.firefly‎^[3] (Usenet):

     I'm glad this wasn't the first flan group I came across or I would never have realised the great nature of the majority of browncoasts.^[sic]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:flan.

References

• Nathan Fillion interview at an In Good Company premiere, 28 December 2004 (IESB.net video) (Wikiquote transcription)

Franco-Provençal

Noun

flan (Savoyard, Valdôtain)

1. Alternative form of flanc (“side”)

References

• flan in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “*hlanka”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 16: Germanismes: G–R, page 211

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþō (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”). Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”) (German Fladen), Dutch vla (“baked custard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɑ̃/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /flã/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

flan m (plural flans)

1. baked custard tart
2. coin die
3. planchet (coin blank)

Descendants

• → Catalan: flam
• → English: flan

Further reading

• “flan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Icelandic

Noun

flan n (genitive singular flans, no plural)

1. rash action

Further reading

• “flan” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

Indonesian

Etymology

From English flan, from French flan (“cheesecake, custard tart, flan”), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (“pie; cake”)), from Late Latin fladonem, accusative of fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþō (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈflan/
• Hyphenation: flan

Noun

flan (first-person possessive flanku, second-person possessive flanmu, third-person possessive flannya)

1. (cooking) flan: baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case.

Further reading

• “flan” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Middle English

Noun

flan

1. Alternative form of flon

Old English

Alternative forms

• flā

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *flainaz (“hook, spear with a tip”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleyn- (“metal arrow, hook, spear-head”). Akin to Old Norse fleinn (“hook, barbed weapon, javelin, arrow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɑːn/

Noun

flān m or f

1. arrow

Declension

(when masculine)

Declension of flān (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	flān	flānas
accusative	flān	flānas
genitive	flānes	flāna
dative	flāne	flānum

(when feminine)

Declension of flān (strong ō-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	flān	flāna, flāne
accusative	flāne	flāna, flāne
genitive	flāne	flāna
dative	flāne	flānum

Descendants

• Middle English: flon, ffloon, flan, flone
  • English: flone
  • Scots: flane, flain

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French flan.

Noun

flan n (plural flanuri)

1. baked custard tart

Declension

Declension of flan

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) flan	flanul	(niște) flanuri	flanurile
genitive/dative	(unui) flan	flanului	(unor) flanuri	flanurilor
vocative	flanule		flanurilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French flan, from Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþō (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂t- (“broad, flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to spread out, be broad, be flat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈflan/ [ˈflãn]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: flan

Noun

flan m (plural flanes)

1. flan, sweet pudding

Derived terms

• (diminutive) flancito

 

Further reading

• “flan”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28