gan
/ɡæn/verb
gan is spelled G-A-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Gan, the name). As a verb, gan means “To go” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gan?
| Letters | 3: G-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,420th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gan?
Gan appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Gan, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gan?
- UK /ɡæn/
- British /ɡan/
Gan has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gan.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gan?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gan from its last stressed vowel (/æn/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nag.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gan
- gans present, singular, he/she/it
- gawn participle, present
- gannin participle, present
- went past
- gane participle, past
- gang
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To go.
noun
- 1
gallium nitride.
noun
- 1
Acronym of generative adversarial network.
- 2
Initialism of Great American Novel.
- 3
Acronym of giant axonal neuropathy.
- 4
Initialism of good article nomination.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does gan come from?
Probably a variant of gang, from Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to step; walk; go”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).