Amy tan

amy, born 1952, u.s. novelist.
noun
the brown colour produced by the skin after intensive exposure to ultraviolet rays, esp those of the sun
a light or moderate yellowish-brown colour
short for tanbark
verb tans, tanning, tanned
to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet rays: she tans easily
to convert (a skin or hide) into leather by treating it with a tanning agent, such as vegetable tannins, chromium salts, fish oils, or formaldehyde
(transitive) (slang) to beat or flog
adjective tanner, tannest
of the colour tan: tan gloves
used in or relating to tanning
abbreviation
tangent (sense 2)
v.

late old english tannian “to convert hide into leather” (by steeping it in tannin), from medieval latin tannare “tan, dye, a tawny color” (c.900), from tannum “crushed oak bark,” used in tanning leather, probably from a celtic source (e.g. breton tann “oak tree”). the meaning “make brown by exposure to the sun” first recorded 1520s. to tan (someone’s) hide in the figurative sense is from 1660s. related: tanned; tanning.
n.

“bronze color imparted to skin by exposure to sun,” 1749, see tan (v.). as a simple name for a brownish color, in any context, it is recorded from 1888. the adjective tan “of the color of tanned leather” is recorded from 1660s.
tan
abbreviation of tangent
tangent
teeny area network