From Middle English panne, from Old English panne, from Proto-West Germanic *pannā, from Proto-Germanic *pannǭ. Further origin uncertain. Alois Walde firstly suggests that it might be from Late Latin panna, from Latin patina (“broad, shallow dish, pan, stewpan”), from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē, “kind of flat dish”), which is probably from Pre-Greek. But the sound shifting from /patina/ → /patna/ → /panna/ raises questions as -tn- to -nn- is rarely seen in Latin. The mainstream theory as of now (Friedrich Kluge, Julius Pokorny, Guus Kroonen) suggests that it is from Late Latin panna. But its sparse attestation only in the frontier inscriptions and not widespread in most Romance languages raises doubts among a few scholars (notably Michiel de Vaan), being skeptical about its origin, and open for any interpretations (Oxford English Dictionary). Vladmir Orel, in his work Albanian Etymological Dictionary, suggests that both Proto-Germanic *pannǭ and Late Latin panna could be from a non-IE Mediterranean substrate word, considering that classical Latin attestations are scarce and distributed in a specific region, and Proto-Germanic loanwords from non-IE substrates often include agricultural terms, seafaring vocabulary, or animal names. Although, this substrate hypothesis is controversial and most scholars remain skeptical about it. Cognate with West Frisian panne, Saterland Frisian Ponne, Dutch pan, German Low German Panne, Pann, German Pfanne, Danish pande, Swedish panna, Icelandic panna.
Geography, Geology, Natural sciencesAbbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of salt pan: a flat artificial pond used for collecting minerals from evaporated water.
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Geography, Geology, Natural sciencesAbbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of hardpan: a hard substrate such as is formed in pans.
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Geography, Geology, Natural sciencesSouth Africa, Obsolete Synonym of pipe: a channel for lava within a volcano; the cylindrical remains of such channels.
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Strong adverse criticism.
The notices The Gallery received, while hardly pans, were only mixed.1977 August 20, Robert Etherington, “John Horne Burns and His Enemies”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 10:
Obsolete The chamber pot in a close stool; (now) the base of a toilet, consisting of the bowl and its support.
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A bedpan.
1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure She yanks the pan out from under me & it spills all over the bed. Then she's got to change the sheets! Unreal.
"He's a foreign-looking guy with thinnish black hair and a meaty sort of pan."1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 121:
Dave and I have parted company, and I hope I never see his junky pan again.1993, William S. Burroughs, edited by Oliver Harris, The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1945–1959, New York: Penguin, →ISBN, page 92:
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This was the kind of operator who would tell you to be there at nine sharp and if you weren't sitting quietly with a pleased smile on your pan when he floated in two hours later on a double Gibson, he would have a paroxysm of outraged executive ability […].1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 103:
[…] he pull’d the Trigger, but Providence being pleas’d to preserve me for some other Purpose, the Cock snapp’d, and miss’d Fire. Whether the Prime was wet in the Pan, or by what other Miracle it was I escap’d his Fury, I cannot say […]1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, pages 95–96:
And he […] glared on the cold pistols that hung before him—ready for anything. And he took down one with a snatch and weighed it in his hand, and fell to thinking again; and, as he did, kept opening and shutting the pan with a snap, […]1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
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The skull, considered as a vessel containing the brain; the brainpan.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, MusicAbbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of steelpan.
The steel band transforms the people who play in it and dance to it, and fosters links between them. […] He learned to play the pan and filled in for absent members.2009, Pnina Werbner, Black and Ethnic Leaderships, page 122:
From Middle English panne, from Old English panne, from Proto-West Germanic *pannā, from Proto-Germanic *pannǭ. Further origin uncertain. Alois Walde firstly suggests that it might be from Late Latin panna, from Latin patina (“broad, shallow dish, pan, stewpan”), from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē, “kind of flat dish”), which is probably from Pre-Greek. But the sound shifting from /patina/ → /patna/ → /panna/ raises questions as -tn- to -nn- is rarely seen in Latin. The mainstream theory as of now (Friedrich Kluge, Julius Pokorny, Guus Kroonen) suggests that it is from Late Latin panna. But its sparse attestation only in the frontier inscriptions and not widespread in most Romance languages raises doubts among a few scholars (notably Michiel de Vaan), being skeptical about its origin, and open for any interpretations (Oxford English Dictionary). Vladmir Orel, in his work Albanian Etymological Dictionary, suggests that both Proto-Germanic *pannǭ and Late Latin panna could be from a non-IE Mediterranean substrate word, considering that classical Latin attestations are scarce and distributed in a specific region, and Proto-Germanic loanwords from non-IE substrates often include agricultural terms, seafaring vocabulary, or animal names. Although, this substrate hypothesis is controversial and most scholars remain skeptical about it. Cognate with West Frisian panne, Saterland Frisian Ponne, Dutch pan, German Low German Panne, Pann, German Pfanne, Danish pande, Swedish panna, Icelandic panna.
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To wash in a pan (of earth, sand etc. when searching for gold).
We […] witnessed the process of cleaning up and panning out, which is the last process of separating the pure gold from the fine dirt and black sand.1875, William Tecumseh Sherman, Memoirs:
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To disparage; to belittle; to put down; to harshly criticize, especially a work (book, movie, etc.)
Matt Damon, who compared the advent of virtual money to the development of aviation and spaceflight in a critically panned but widely seen Crypto.com ad last year, did not respond to requests to weigh in.2022 May 17, Tiffany Hsu, “All Those Celebrities Pushing Crypto Are Not So Vocal Now”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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With out To turn out well; to be successful.
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Informal, Of a contest To beat one's opposition convincingly.
When she publicly acknowledged that she is pan, it educated citizens near and far on what that sexuality meant and the importance of being proud of who you are.2012 December 28, Anna Waugh, “Texas got a pansexual legislator”, in Dallas Voice, volume 29, number 33, page 9:
Another anonymous pansexual disclosed, "Sometimes I feel really left out because I'm pan. […] "2013, Alejandra Rodriguez, "Isn't That Bisexual?", Outwrite, Fall 2013, page 7
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A similar experience is shared by individuals who identify their sexuality as pan, bi or queer.2013, Megan Hertner, "Understanding Gender and Sexuality", Grapevine (Huron University College), December 2013, page 19
Later today in Finsbury Park, the cameras would spend hours panning across 35,000 festivalgoers in search of pickpockets, drunken brawlers, and other assorted agents of petty mischief.2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2018:
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Arts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Photography To move the camera lens angle while continuing to expose the film, enabling a contiguous view and enrichment of context. In still-photography large-group portraits the film usually remains on a horizontal fixed plane as the lens and/or the film holder moves to expose the film laterally. The resulting image may extend a short distance laterally or as great as 360° from the point where the film first began to be exposed.
As one can only "pan" at 90 deg. to the direction of movement of the subject, a compromise has to be reached when shooting at more conventional angles between a shutter speed high enough to arrest the forward movement of the subject and one low enough to blur the valve motion and wheels.1957 January 23, A. M. Ross, “Letters to the Editor: Impressions of Speed”, in Railway Magazine, page 60:
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To shift an image relative to the display window without changing the viewing scale.
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To spread a sound signal into a new stereo or multichannel sound field, typically giving the impression that it is moving across the sound stage.
Sound engineering
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(of a sound) To move in the multichannel sound field.
A sequence in a film in which the camera pans over an area.
For instance, in the film Dances with Wolves, a pan of an uninhabited landscape contrasts the gruesome beginning footage that depicts the carnage of war.2013, Monle Lee, Carla Johnson, Principles of Advertising: A Global Perspective, page 197:
31 May 1884, Leeds Mercury Pan it down—press an article into its proper place
The plants can either be sold individually in the 3 inch pots as Valentine favors , or several may be panned together in larger pots1963, Grower Talks: