pan

¹

[ pan ]

noun

1. a broad, shallow container of metal, usually having sides flaring outward toward the top, used in various forms for frying, baking, washing, etc.
2. any similar receptacle or part, as the scales of a balance.
3. the amount a pan holds or can hold; panful:

   a pan of shelled peas.

4. any of various open or closed containers used in industrial or mechanical processes.
5. a container in which silver ores are ground and amalgamated.
6. a container in which gold or other heavy, valuable metals are separated from gravel or other substances by agitation with water.
7. a drifting piece of flat, thin ice, as formed on a shore or bay.
8. a natural depression in the ground, as one containing water, mud, or mineral salts.
9. a similar depression made artificially, as for evaporating salt water to make salt.
10. (in old guns) the depressed part of the lock, holding the priming.
11. Also pan·ning. an unfavorable review, critique, or appraisal:

    The show got one rave and three pans.

12. Slang. the face.

verb (used with object)

, panned, pan·ning.

1. Informal. to criticize severely, as in a review of a play.
2. 1. to wash (gravel, sand, etc.) in a pan to separate gold or other heavy, valuable metal.
   2. to separate (gold or other heavy, valuable metal) from gravel or sand in this way.
3. to cook or bake in a pan.

verb (used without object)

, panned, pan·ning.

1. to wash gravel, sand, etc., in a pan in seeking gold or the like.
2. to yield gold or the like, as gravel washed in a pan.

verb phrase

1. Informal. to turn out, especially successfully:

   The couple's reconciliation just didn't pan out.

pan

²

[ pan ]

verb (used without object)

, panned, pan·ning.

1. to film, photograph, or televise something with the camera fixed in place and pivoted horizontally left or right, in order to keep a moving person or object in view or to capture a wide view:

   They usually pan from one end of the playing field to the other during the opening of the football game.

2. (of a camera) to be pivoted horizontally to the right or left from a fixed place in order to keep a moving person or object in view or to capture a wide view:

   The cameras panned occasionally during the scene.

verb (used with object)

, panned, pan·ning.

1. to pivot (a camera) on its horizontal axis in order to follow a moving person or thing, or to capture an extended view:

   to pan the camera across the scene.

2. to photograph, film, or televise (a scene, moving character, etc.) by pivoting the camera on its horizontal axis:

   pan the skyline.

3. Audio. to direct (a signal output) to one of the speakers in a sound system, to a point between speakers, or, especially, through a continuum from one side to the other to create the impression that the source is moving:

   They gradually panned the vocal recording from the right to the left channel as the song progressed.

noun

1. the act of pivoting a camera, which is fixed in place, to the left or right.
2. Also called panning shot. the filmed shot resulting from this.

pan

³

[ pan ]

noun

1. a major vertical division of a wall.
2. a nogged panel of half-timber construction.

pan

⁴

[ pahn ]

noun

1. the leaf of the betel.
2. a substance, especially betel nut or a betel-nut mixture, used for chewing.

pan

⁵

[ pahn ]

noun

, Informal.

1. panguingue.

Pan

⁶

[ pan ]

noun

1. the ancient Greek god of forests, pastures, flocks, and shepherds, represented with the head, chest, and arms of a man and the legs and sometimes the horns and ears of a goat.

pan-

⁷

1. a combining form meaning “all,” occurring originally in loanwords from Greek ( panacea; panoply ), but now used freely as a general formative ( panleukopenia; panorama; pantelegraph; pantheism; pantonality ), and especially in terms, formed at will, implying the union of all branches of a group ( Pan-Christian; Panhellenic; Pan-Slavism ). The hyphen and the second capital tend with longer use to be lost, unless they are retained in order to set off clearly the component parts.

Pan.

⁸

abbreviation for

1. Panama.

Pan.

¹

abbreviation for

1. Panama

pan-

²

combining_form

1. all or every

   panchromatic

2. including or relating to all parts or members

   Pan-African

   pantheistic

pan

³

/ pæn /

verb

1. to move (a film camera) or (of a film camera) to be moved so as to follow a moving object or obtain a panoramic effect

noun

1. 1. the act of panning
   2. ( as modifier )

      a pan shot

Pan

⁴

/ pæn /

noun

1. Greek myth the god of fields, woods, shepherds, and flocks, represented as a man with a goat's legs, horns, and ears PandeanPanic

pan

⁵

/ pæn /

noun

1. 1. a wide metal vessel used in cooking
   2. ( in combination )

      saucepan

2. Also calledpanful the amount such a vessel will hold
3. any of various similar vessels used esp in industry, as for boiling liquids
4. a dish used by prospectors, esp gold prospectors, for separating a valuable mineral from the gravel or earth containing it by washing and agitating
5. either of the two dishlike receptacles on a balance
6. Also calledlavatory pan the bowl of a lavatory
7. 1. a natural or artificial depression in the ground where salt can be obtained by the evaporation of brine
   2. a natural depression containing water or mud
8. the indented top from an oil drum used as the treble drum in a steel band
9. See hardpan brainpan
10. a small ice floe
11. a slang word for face
12. a small cavity containing priming powder in the locks of old guns
13. a hard substratum of soil
14. short for pan loaf

verb

1. whentr, often foll by off or out to wash (gravel) in a pan to separate particles of (valuable minerals) from it
2. introften foll byout (of gravel) to yield valuable minerals by this process
3. informal.
   tr to criticize harshly

   the critics panned his new play

pan

⁶

/ pɑːn; pæn /

noun

1. the leaf of the betel tree
2. a preparation of this leaf which is chewed, together with betel nuts and lime, in India and the East Indies

Pan

1. The Greek god of flocks, forests, meadows, and shepherds. He had the horns and feet of a goat. Pan frolicked about the landscape, playing delightful tunes.

Notes

According to legend, Pan was the source of scary noises in the wilderness at night. Fright at these noises was called “panic.”

Pan's musical instrument was a set of reed pipes, the “pipes of Pan.”

Other Words From

• pan·ner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pan¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English panne; cognate with Dutch pan, German Pfanne, Old Norse panna; further origin uncertain, perhaps from assumed Vulgar Latin patna, panna “pan,” from Latin patena, patina “shallow dish, shallow pan, stewpan,” from Greek patánē “dish, flat dish.” Pan, in the sense “face,” is an Americanism first recorded in 1920–25; paten ( def )

Origin of pan²

First recorded in 1920–25; shortening of panorama

Origin of pan³

First recorded in 1735–45; from French, Middle French; pane

Origin of pan⁴

First recorded in 1610–20; from Hindi pān; compare Pali, Prakrit paṇṇa, Sanskrit parṇa “leaf, betel leaf”

Origin of pan⁵

First recorded in 1935–40; by shortening

Origin of pan⁶

< Greek pan- combining form of pâs (neuter pân ) all, every, pân everything

Word History and Origins

Origin of pan¹

from Greek pan, neuter of pas all

Origin of pan²

C20: shortened from panoramic

Origin of pan³

Old English panne; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse panna, Old High German pfanna

Origin of pan⁴

C17: from Hindi, from Sanskrit parna feather, wing, leaf

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with pan , also see flash in the pan ; out of the frying pan .

Example Sentences

The resulting lush and exotic soundscape, featuring plaintive pan flute and sprinkled with birdsong, turned out to be perfect for the game’s spooktastic forest levels.

From New York Times

Stand the soda bottle in a pan.

From National Geographic Kids

California’s state epidemiologist, Erica Pan, said that while the announcement of five cases today may sound like a sudden explosion or acceleration in cases, it was an artifact of state reporting deadlines.

From Los Angeles Times

This summer, Disney said it would update Peter Pan’s Flight, one of the theme park’s original attractions, to remove a scene involving caricatures of Native Americans.

From Los Angeles Times

He likened Clark’s skills to those of Johnny Mercer, the Tin Pan Alley icon who wrote “Moon River” and co-founded Capitol Records in 1942.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bucket
• frying pan
• kettle
• pot
• saucepan
• sheet
• skillet

Words That Use pan-

What does pan- mean?

Pan- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “all.” It is often used in a variety of scientific and technical terms, particularly in pathology.

Pan- comes from the Greek pâs, meaning “all.” The term pancreas, a gland in the stomach, is ultimately related to this same Greek root. So do panacea and many other words English gets from Greek. The equivalent form derived from Latin is omni-, as in omnivore, which comes from Latin omnis, “all.”

What are variants of pan-?

Pan- is a variant of panto-. Another variant of pan- is pant-, as in pantalgia. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on pant- and panto-.

Examples of pan-

One example of a term you may have encountered that features the combining form pan- is pantheon, meaning “the gods of a particular mythology considered collectively.”

The pan- part of the word means “all,” while the -theon part of the word here means “god.” Pantheon has a literal sense of “all gods.”

What are some words that use the combining form pan-?

• panacea (using the equivalent form of pan- in Greek)
• panangiitis
• panatheism
• panegyric (using the equivalent form of pan- in Greek)
• pandemonium
• pangender
• pangram
• panmyelosis
• pansexual
• pantheism (using the equivalent form of pan- in French)

What are some other forms that pan- may be commonly confused with?

• pancreat-
• partheno-
• penta-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters pan-, such as pancake or panda, is necessarily using the combining form pan- to denote “all.” Learn where the word panda comes from at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

The combining form -gram means “something written.” With this in mind, how many letters of the alphabet are used in a sentence known as a pangram?