dan

Of the several English words spelled dan, the common one is the grade in judo and karate, from Japanese, and an older one is a title of honour from Latin dominus.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dæn/^[4]

dan¹ grade

Etymology

It is borrowed from Japanese 段 (dan, “step, grade”).^[1][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In judo, a degree of proficiency or the holder of one: 1941 in the OED and Evans, in Feldenkrais's Judo.^[3][6] MWU dates its first known use to 1952,^[1] and the COED and Shorter Oxford to the 1940s.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The dan grades are the advanced, black-belt levels, as opposed to the lower kyu grades.^[6][9] The word spread from judo to karate and other Japanese and Korean martial arts,^[6][10] and to the expert levels of games such as shogi.^[10][1] Dan-holder is from 1941.^[3]

Timeline

• 1941 – a grade in judo.^[3][6]
• 1952 – first known use in MWU.^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of the advanced grades of skill in judo, karate and other martial arts, shown by a black belt.
2. A person who has reached such a grade.
3. An expert level in shogi and similar games.

dan² title

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dan, daun, borrowed from Old French dan (“lord, master”),^[2][1] from Medieval Latin domnus, from Latin dominus “lord, master”,^[1][2] from domus “house”,^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“house, household”).^[2] It is the masculine of dame,^[11] and related to Spanish don, Portuguese dom and Italian donno.^[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

An honourable title, “Master, Sir”, used of members of religious orders: about 1300 in Etymonline,^[2] 1303 in the OED, also of distinguished men such as knights, scholars and poets.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was common in Chaucer, and Spenser in turn called him Dan Chaucer.^[11] It was used of deities too, as in Dan Cupid.^[3] The title is now archaic, and modern French has dom instead.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1303 – a title of honour.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (archaic) A title of honour for men, especially monks, scholars and poets, like Master or Sir.

Related words

• dame
• don
• domain
• kyu

Usage notes

A third dan is a small marker buoy, also dan buoy (1687), of unknown origin,^[3][7][9] and in mining dialect a dan was a small tub or truck for drawing coal (1852).^[3][12] As a name, Dan is short for Daniel, and the tribe of Dan gave from Dan to Beersheba, from one end of a country to the other.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d Evans, Tom (1997), A Dictionary of Japanese Loanwords, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press
7. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)