ENGLISH
REFERENCE

san

n. countable
B1 Intermediate US //ˈsæn// san Archaic Dialect Informal Vulgar

n. a title used before the name of a male saint or as part of a city name in Spanish-speaking areas. It is the short form of the word for 'Saint'.

n. an honorific title prefixed to the name of a male saint in Spanish. It functions as an apocopated form of 'Santo', used before most masculine names.


SIMPLE

The city of San Francisco is famous for its bridge.

CONTEXTUAL

Many cities in California were originally named after saints, such as San Diego and San Jose.

COMPLEX

The festival of San Juan is celebrated with large bonfires and traditional music in many coastal towns across Spain and Latin America.

Etymology 1

As a synonym of Bushmen introduced into ethnology from the 1960s, from Khoekhoe saan (singular saa) "foragers; people without wealth", via back-formation from Khoisan. Occasional citation as the Nama term for "Bushmen" from the 1880s.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Polish San.

Usage

Used as a prefix for masculine proper nouns; the full form 'Santo' is retained before names starting with 'Do-' or 'To-' (e.g., Santo Domingo).

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