khan
/kɑːn/noun
khan is spelled K-H-A-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Khan, the name). As a noun, khan means “A ruler over various Turkic and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of khan is khans.
How many letters and syllables are in khan?
| Letters | 4: K-H-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 18 times per million words; the 4,667th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| 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 khan?
Khan appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Khan, 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 khan?
- /kɑːn/
Khan 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: En-us-khan.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with khan
Sounds like: carn (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with khan?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as khan.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hank, ankh.
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 khan
- khans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does khan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A ruler over various Turkic and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages.
- 2
An Ottoman sultan.
- 3
A noble or man of rank in various Muslim countries of Central Asia, including Afghanistan.
- 4
Synonym of caravanserai (particularly in Middle Eastern contexts)
At each of these stations there is a hostelry which they call a khan, where travellers alight with their beasts, and outside each khan is a public watering-place and a shop at which the traveller may buy what he requires for himself and his
- 5
Synonym of fonduk (“inn or hotel in Middle Eastern contexts”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Khan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a ruler over various Turkic and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does khan come from?
Via late Middle English can, chan from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan. Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰴𐰍𐰣 (qaɣan), and Mongolian хаан (xaan), possibly from Rouran. Sense 1 (ruler in the Middle Ages) after Genghis Khan, from Middle Mongol ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan). Doublet of khagan.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).