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van

/væn/noun, verb

van is spelled V-A-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 60 times per million words in written English, the 1,724th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, van means “A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of van is vans.

How many letters and syllables are in van?

Letters3: V-A-N
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing60 times per million words; the 1,724th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 van?

Van appears 60 times per million words in written English, the 1,724th 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 van?

  • US /væn/
  • British /van/
  • British /vaːn/

Van 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-van.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Van.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with van?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as van from its last stressed vowel (/æn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: nav.

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 van

  • vans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • vanning participle, present
  • vanned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does van mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus.

  2. 2

    UKAn enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van.

  3. 3

    datedA light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.

  4. 4

    A large towable vehicle equipped for the repair of structures that cannot easily be moved.

  5. 5

    A shovel used in cleansing ore.

  6. 6

    A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.

  7. 7

    A wing with which the air is beaten.

  8. 8

    Clipping of vanguard.

verb

  1. 1

    To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).

  2. 2

    Of law enforcement: to arrest (not necessarily in a van; derived from party van).

  3. 3

    To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel.

noun

as Van
  1. 1

    A Van cat.

  2. 2

    A Turkish Van cat.

noun

as VAN
  1. 1

    Abbreviation of value-added network.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Van in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfourgon, fourgonnette, camionnette (a covered vehicle)
GermanTransporter, Lieferwagen (a covered vehicle)
Portuguesefurgão, van (a covered vehicle), vagão (enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods)
Spanishfurgoneta, furgón, van, autobusete, minibús, microbús (a covered vehicle)

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 van come from?

Short for caravan.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after van