flan

/flæn/

//flæn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"flan" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“flan” is uncommon English (frequency #54,181 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,181
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A baked tart with a sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case.

Corpus desk

Index EN-flan · flan · English

flan · rank #54,181 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,181
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH FiOS

Nearest frequency peer: FiOS (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “flan”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “flan” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for flan
PropertyValue
Headwordflan
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/flæn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#54,181
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “flan” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).flanfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “FiOS” (#54,180), “fetches” (#54,179), “FMC” (#54,183). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “flan” is #54,181. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

flan is uncommon English at frequency #54,181 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /flæn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

flan doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 (“… The correct English form is flan, spelled F-L-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A baked tart with a sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case.
  2. 2
    A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries.
  3. 3
    A coin die.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how flan appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

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

Etymology

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.

This word in other languages

flan(Español)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "flan"?
"flan" is spelled F-L-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /flæn/.
What does "flan" mean?
As a noun, "flan" means: A baked tart with a sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case.
How do you pronounce "flan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "flan" is /flæn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "flan"?
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... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flan", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

FiOS#54,180gato#54,196glob#54,205Eder#54,148

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list