Nān
/nɑːn/noun
A leavened, usually flat South Asian bread traditionally baked in a hot clay oven.
Did you know?The word nān entered English through South Asian usage, but its deeper history is Iranian rather than originally Indian.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Iranian
Proto-Iranian
*nān-
“A reconstructed term associated with bread or baked food; the deeper origin is uncertain.”
Middle Persian
Middle Persian
nān
“Bread.”
Classical Persian
Persian
نان (nān)
“Bread, especially a loaf or flatbread.”
Medieval South Asia
Persian/Hindustani
نان (nān)
“Bread adopted into South Asian culinary vocabulary.”
20th Century
English
naan
“A South Asian leavened flatbread, commonly baked in a tandoor.”
Modern English
English
nān
“A transliteration retaining the long-vowel mark used in Persian and South Asian romanization.”