nan

\nɑ̃\

/\nɑ̃\/ intj

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

The verdict

“nan” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,862) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,862
frequency rank, French
1,563
“N” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Variante de non (utilisé en tant que réponse à une question fermée ou un ordre).

Corpus desk

Index FR-nan · nan · French

nan · rank #3,862 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,862
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,563
  • PHOTO-FINISH mignon

Nearest frequency peer: mignon (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “nan”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “nan” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

nan vs ne
33% similar
nan vs ni
33% similar
nan vs no
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for nan
PropertyValue
Headwordnan
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
IPA\nɑ̃\
Letters3
Frequency rank#3,862
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “nan” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.nanse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « mignon » (#3,861), « Normandie » (#3,863), « maritime » (#3,860). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for nan is neighbouring look-alikes ("ne", "ni", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced \nɑ̃\. Frequency #3,862 among 1,563 “N” headwords. Gloss: "Variante de non (utilisé en tant que réponse à une question fermée ou un ordre).".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for nan, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ne", "ni", "no", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is nan, spelled N-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Variante de non (utilisé en tant que réponse à une question fermée ou un ordre).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. — Je me disais, il fait beau là et mes vieux sont de sortie ce soir, on pourrait se faire un barbec ? Enfin si ça vous dit... — Ah, ouais ! pourquoi pas... mais ça dépend, tu t'occupes du feu ? Nan, parce que la dernière fois, c'était un peu l'échec de la saucisse, ton barbec.
  2. — Tu entends des voix, toi? — Nan...

This word in other languages

nah(English)nee(Deutsch)

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nan"?
"nan" is spelled N-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \nɑ̃\.
What does "nan" mean?
As an interjection, "nan" means: Variante de non (utilisé en tant que réponse à une question fermée ou un ordre).
What words are commonly confused with "nan"?
"nan" is commonly confused with "ne", "ni", "no". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nan" is \nɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nan" come from?
"nan" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Joe#3,859hop#3,853duo#3,839wow#3,885

What to do next

You've looked up "nan". Here's where to go from here.

  • "nan" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ne". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #3,862 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "N" letter cohort. N–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list