san
/ˈsæn/noun
san is spelled S-A-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 93 times per million words in written English, the 1,144th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, san means “An Ancient Greek letter representing /s/ (uppercase Ϻ, lowercase ϻ), originally used in some dialects instead of sigma” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of san is sans.
How many letters and syllables are in san?
| Letters | 3: S-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 93 times per million words; the 1,144th 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; 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 san?
San appears 93 times per million words in written English, the 1,144th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce san?
- US /ˈsæn/
- [ˈseə̯n] ~ [ˈsɛə̯n]
- British /ˈsan/
San has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-san.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with san?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as san from its last stressed vowel (/æn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ans.
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 san
- sans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does san mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An Ancient Greek letter representing /s/ (uppercase Ϻ, lowercase ϻ), originally used in some dialects instead of sigma.
- 2
datedinformalA sanatorium.
noun
- 1
offensiveAny of the foraging non-Bantu ethnic groups of southwestern Africa.
noun
- 1
Acronym of storage area network.
- 2
Acronym of system area network.
- 3
Acronym of Subject Alternative Name.
- 4
Acronym of styrene-acrylonitrile resin.
- 5
Acronym of styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer or sytrene acrylonitrile copolymer.
- 6
Acronym of sinoatrial node.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of South African.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
San in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 san come from?
From Ancient Greek σάν (sán), from a Semitic language.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).