flan

[ flan, flahn; Spanish flahn; French flahn ]

noun

, plural flans [flanz, flahnz, flah, n]; Spanish fla·nes [flah, -nes]

1. Spanish Cooking. a dessert of sweetened egg custard with a caramel topping.
2. an open, tartlike pastry, the shell of which is baked in a bottomless band of metal flan ring on a baking sheet, removed from the ring and filled with custard, cream, fruit, etc.
3. a piece of metal shaped ready to form a coin, but not yet stamped by the die.
4. the metal of which a coin is made, as distinct from its design.

flan

/ flæn /

noun

1. an open pastry or sponge tart filled with fruit or a savoury mixture
2. a piece of metal ready to receive the die or stamp in the production of coins; shaped blank; planchet

Word History and Origins

Origin of flan¹

1840–50; < French; Old French flaon < Late Latin fladōn-, stem of fladō < Germanic; compare Old High German flado ( German Fladen ) flat cake

Word History and Origins

Origin of flan¹

C19: from French, from Old French flaon , from Late Latin fladō flat cake, of Germanic origin

Example Sentences

Each illustrated chapter is dedicated to individual ingredients from vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices and nuts, to a handful of cooked foods such as waffles, leche flan and lumpia.

From Seattle Times

Her pastries rest in the center of the comforting/interesting axis, ranging from tiramisu, opera cake and flan to puddings and croissants in seasonal flavors.

From Seattle Times

The flan is a sturdy round, better for the ring of strawberry sauce that circles it and the passion fruit sauce on top that lends pucker.

From Washington Post

“Being famous is like eating the best flan in the world. It’s so good, you can never get enough of it. Trust me, you’re going to love being in the spotlight.”

From Literature

When Marcus Magsayo, 20, a Filipino American college student, put together a large cultural event with Filipino leche flan, he learned that his Latino friends also eat a version of the caramel dessert.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• disc
• plate
• platter