tun

tun

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Tunica.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Tunica terms

• tunne, tonne (obsolete)

From Middle English tunne, tonne (“cask, barrel”), from Old English tunne (“tun, cask, barrel”), from Proto-Germanic *tunnǭ, *tunnō (“tun, barrel, cask”), from Latin tunna, probably of Gaulish origin.

Cognate with North Frisian tenn (“tun, barrel, cask”), Dutch ton (“tun, barrel, cask”), German Tonne (“tun, barrel, drum”), Danish tønde (“barrel”), Swedish tunna (“barrel, cask, tun”), Icelandic tunna (“barrel”). Compare also Old French tonne, French tonneau (“ton, barrel”), Medieval Latin tunna (“cask”), Middle Irish tunna (“cask”), Welsh tynell (“tun, barrel”). It is uncertain whether the Germanic or the Celtic forms are the original.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʌn/, /tʊn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophones: ton, tonne
• Rhymes: -ʌn, -ʊn

tun (plural tuns)

1. A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)
2. (brewing) A fermenting vat.
3. (historical) A traditional unit of liquid measure (from the volume of such a cask) equal to 252 wine gallons or 2 pipes.

   Coordinate terms: (in order of increasing volume) rundlet; barrel; tierce; hogshead; puncheon, tertian; pipe, butt

   • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, page 205:

     Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons.

4. Synonym of long ton: a unit of mass equal to 2240 pounds, 20 hundredweights of 112 pounds avoirdupois each.
5. (figurative) Synonym of ton: any extremely or excessively large amount.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, / This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this, / Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim / Hear no more of you.

   • 1682, John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe, lines 195–196:

     A Tun of Man in thy Large bulk is writ, / But sure thou'rt but a Kilderkin of wit.

6. (archaic, humorous or derogatory) Synonym of drunkard: a person who drinks excessively.
7. Any shell belonging to Tonna and allied genera.
8. The cryptobiotic state of a tardigrade, when its metabolism is temporarily suspended.
9. (obsolete, Oxford University, Pembroke College) A small silver cup holding half a pint, sometimes having a whistle in the handle that could not be blown until the cup was empty.
   • 1900, Douglas Macleane, Pembroke College, page 249:

     So abundant is the supply of tankards and "tuns" […]

10. (dialectal, UK) a chimney.

tun (third-person singular simple present tuns, present participle tunning, simple past and past participle tunned)

1. (transitive) To put into tuns, or casks.
   • 1843, Mary Holland, The Complete Economical Cook, and Frugal Housewife‎^[1], 14th edition, page 407:

     Strong beer that is brewed in small quantities, and ale, whatever the quantity may be, should be tunned the second day after brewing; and small beer should be tunned as soon as it has fairly taken the yeast

From Mayan. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

tun (plural tuns or tunob)

1. A part of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar system which corresponds to 18 winal cycles or 360 days.

Borrowed from Malay tun.

tun (plural tuns)

1. (Malaysia) A respectful term of address to royalties and certain award recipients

• NTU, NUT, Nut, nut

• IPA^(key): /tún/

From Proto-Ainu *tu-n. Refers specifically to thick, durable skin or processed leather, as opposed to the general term kap.

tun

1. leather; hide (especially of a large marine mammal).
2. A leather strap or thong.

• tunnin (“bearded seal”, literally “leather thing”)
• tunker (“leather boots”)

From Proto-Ainu *tu (“two”).

tun

1. two (Sakhalin dialect; or in certain compounds)

• tunne (“two people”)
• tup (“two things”)

• Batchelor, John (1905), An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary, Tokyo: Methodist Publishing House.
• Vovin, Alexander (1993), A Reconstruction of Proto-Ainu, Leiden: Brill.
• Hattori, Shirō (1964), Ainugo Hōgen Jiten [An Ainu Dialect Dictionary], Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.

tun

1. turn

• tunu, tunã

From Latin tonō. Compare Romanian tuna, tun.

tun (participle tunatã)

1. to thunder

• tunari / tunare
• tunat
• ditun / ditunã

tun

1. again

From Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos). Compare Italian tuono, Friulian ton, Catalan tro, Romansh tun, tung, Romanian tun, tunet, Spanish trueno.

tun m

1. thunderclap, thunder

A contraction of tunfisk, from German Thunfisch (“tuna”), from Latin thunnus, from Ancient Greek θύννος (thúnnos).

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tˢuːˀn]

tun c (singular definite tunen, plural indefinite tun)

1. tuna
2. tuna fish
3. tun

From Old Norse tún, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom.

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tˢuːˀn]

tun n (singular definite tunet, plural indefinite tun)

1. (dated) An enclosed piece of ground.

See tune.

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tˢuːˀn]

tun

1. imperative of tune

• tan

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tun

1. (Pular) only

• Other varieties of Fula use tan.

tun

1. (Pular) only

• Other varieties of Fula use tan.

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014. (when accessed 2019-9-10, there was no entry for tun, but an example using the word was given in entry for jam)
• Herb Caudill and Ousmane Besseko Diallo, Miɗo waawi Pular! : learner's guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon), Conakry, 2000. (examples in text)

• thun (obsolete)

From Middle High German tuon, from Old High German tuon, from Proto-West Germanic *dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną, derived from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, set, place”). Cognate with English do.

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/, [tuːn]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

tun (irregular, third-person singular present tut, past tense tat, past participle getan, past subjunctive täte, auxiliary haben)

1. To do (to perform or execute an action).

   Synonym: machen

   Tu es! ― Do it!

   Man tut, was man kann. ― One does what one can.

   Er tat das, was man ihm gesagt hat. ― He did as he was told.

   Das einzige, was er je tat, war arbeiten. ― The only thing he ever did was work.

2. [with dative] To do something (positive or negative) to someone.

   Synonym: antun

   Der tut Ihnen nichts! ― He won't hurt you! (said for example about a dog)

   Mein Mann hat mir so viel Gutes getan. ― My husband has done me so much good.

3. (somewhat informal, with “so” or “als ob”) To fake; to feign; to pretend.

   Synonyms: vortäuschen, täuschen, vorgeben

   Er hat nur so getan. ― He just faked it.

   Er tut, als ob er nichts wüsste. ― He pretends to know nothing.

4. (chiefly colloquial) To put, to place, to add.

   Synonyms: setzen, legen, stellen, geben, platzieren, hinzufügen

   Tu das hier rein. ― Put it in here.

   Ich würde noch was Salz an die Kartoffeln tun. ― I would add some more salt to the potatoes.

   • 2017, Simone Meier, Fleisch, Kein & Aber, page 27:

     » Ich finds eklig, wenn du die Butter am Morgen nicht direkt aufs Brot streichst, sondern immer zuerst auf einen Teller tust. «

     I find it disgusting when you don't spread your butter straight on to your bread in the morning, but always put it on the plate first.

5. (chiefly colloquial, impersonal, with “es”) To work, to function.

   Synonym: funktionieren

   Die Uhr tut’s nicht mehr. ― The clock doesn’t work anymore.

6. (northern and western Germany, colloquial, reflexive, with an indefinite pronoun) To make a difference; to be different.

   Synonym: unterscheiden

   Tut sich das viel? ― Does that make much of a difference?

   Die beiden Kameras tun sich nichts. ― The two cameras are no different [i.e. neither better than the other].

7. (informal, reflexive, impersonal, with “es”) to happen, to be going on

   Und, tut sich heute etwas? ― Well, anything happening today?

   Derzeit tut sich viel. ― There's a lot going on at the moment.

8. (chiefly colloquial, but acceptable in writing) Used with the preceding infinitive of another verb to emphasise this verb

   Er singt immer noch gern, aber tanzen tut er gar nicht mehr.

   He still loves singing, but as to dancing, he doesn't do that anymore at all.

9. (colloquial, nonstandard) Used with the following infinitive of another verb, often to emphasise the statement

   Ich tu doch zuhören! ― I am listening! (as a response to the reproach that one is not)

   Ich tu das jetzt mal aufräumen. ― I’m cleaning this up now.

10. (colloquial, nonstandard) Used in the past subjunctive with the infinitive of another verb to form the conditional tense (instead of standard würde)

    Ich tät mir das noch mal überlegen. ― I would think about that again.

• The verb tun in the sense of “to perform” is not used in combination with nouns. This function is covered by the verb machen: ich mache Sport, wir machen ein Spiel, er macht die Wäsche (“I do sport, we do a game, he does the laundry”). The same is true with pronouns that represent such nouns: Wer macht die Wäsche? – Ich mache sie. (“Who does the laundry? – I do it.”) It is usually ungrammatical to use tun in sentences like these.

Tun is only used with pronouns that represent actions as a whole: Was tust du? (“What are you doing?”) Ich tue viel für die Umwelt. (“I do a lot for the environment.”) Er tut alles, was sie sagt. (“He does everything she says.”)

• (colloquial, nonstandard): The use of do-support is a feature of several dialects and minority languages in the German language area. In the standard language, it is most established along the Rhine. It is somewhat more acceptable when used for emphasis or in the subjunctive (as in the example with zuhören and überlegen above), but is otherwise regarded as childish or illiterate (as in the example with aufräumen). This latter usage is generally associated with lower socio-economic status.

• The 1st person singular present indicative may also be (ich) tu.

• Tat f

• “tun”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “tun” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “tun” in OpenThesaurus.de
• “tun” in Duden online
• “tun” in Duden online

• IPA^(key): /tún/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [tɪ́ŋ]

tun

1. since, ever since

• (Standard Hlai, Baoding) IPA^(key): /tʰun˥˧/

From Proto-Hlai *tʰun (“language”), from Pre-Hlai *tun (Norquest, 2015).

tun

1. speech; words; language
2. folk song
3. dispute; controversy

From Proto-Hlai *tʰu[n/ɲ] (“to reap”), from Pre-Hlai *tu[n/ɲ] (Norquest, 2015).

tun

1. To reap.

From Proto-Samic *tonë.

tun (genitive tuu)

1. you (singular)

• tun in Marja-Liisa Olthuis, Taarna Valtonen, Miina Seurujärvi and Trond Trosterud (2015–2022), Nettidigisäänih Anarâškiela-suomakielâ-anarâškielâ sänikirje‎^[3], Tromsø: UiT

• Eino Koponen, Klaas Ruppel, Kirsti Aapala, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[4], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Javanese writing system
Carakan	ꦠꦸꦤ꧀
Pegon
Roman	tun (standard), toen (outdated)

Inherited from Old Javanese tun, tön (“desire, love, attach”).

• IPA^(key): /tʊn/
• Hyphenation: tun

tun

1. desire

• “tun”, in Javanese-Indonesian Dictionary [Kamus Bahasa Jawa-Indonesia] (in Javanese), Yogyakarta, Indonesia: The Linguistic Center of Yogyakarta Special [Balai Bahasa Provinsi Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta], 2023.

From Proto-Samic *tonë.

Compare Inari Sami tun and Skolt Sami ton.

tun (genitive tu)

1. thou, you
   • 1889, A. Genetz, Journal de la Société finno-ougrienne (VII), Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Kirjapainossa, page 116:

     Kulnaſaſz, niraſam, kätze, åinakåſz tun ſu salm.

     Kulnasasz, my reindeer, look: do you see her eyes?

tun

1. nonstandard spelling of tūn
2. nonstandard spelling of tún
3. nonstandard spelling of tǔn
4. nonstandard spelling of tùn

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

tun (Raguileo spelling)

1. To catch.

From Latin tonō.^[1] Compare Romanian tuna, tun.

tun

1. thunder

• tunari

• Atasanov, Petar (1990), Le mégléno-roumain de nos jours: Une approche linguistique, Hamburg: Buske

tun

1. alternative form of toun

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tun m (plural tuns)

1. (Jersey) tuft

• toupet
• tus

From Old Norse tún. Akin to English town.

• IPA^(key): /tʉːn/

tun n (definite singular tunet, indefinite plural tun, definite plural tuna)

1. courtyard, front yard (the area in front of, around or between houses, particularly on a farm)
   • 1996, Jon Fosse, Nokon kjem til å komme:

     I tunet framfor eit gammalt ganske forfallent hus […]

     In the front yard in front of an old, rather dilapidated house […]

2. farmstead (a collection of buildings and the area between them on a farm)

• “tun” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną.

tūn m

1. fence

• Middle Dutch: tuun
  • Dutch: tuin
    • Afrikaans: tuin
    • Berbice Creole Dutch: tun
    • Skepi Creole Dutch: tun
  • Limburgish: toen
  • West Flemish: tuun
  • Zealandic: tuun

• “tūn”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

From Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną (“enclosure”).

• IPA^(key): /tuːn/

tūn m

1. an enclosed piece of ground, an enclosure or garden
2. the enclosed ground belonging to an individual dwelling
3. the group of houses on an area of enclosed land, a homestead
4. a village or town
   • 8th century, Erfurt Glossary

     tuun

     a town

   • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

     An. DCCLXXVII Hēr Cynewulf ⁊ Offa ġefuhton ymb Benesingtūn ⁊ Offa ġenam þone tūn.

     Year 777 In this year Cynewulf and Offa fought near Benson and Offa seized the town.

Strong a-stem:

• dūn (“hill, mountain”)

• Middle English: toun, town, towne, tun, tune
  • English: town, tahn, tawn (Bermuda), toon (Northumbria), toune, towne (obsolete)
    • → Chichewa: tawuni
    • → Hawaiian: kaona
    • → Jersey Dutch: tāun
    • → Pennsylvania German: Taun
    • → Japanese: タウン (taun)
  • English: (West Yorkshire) taan
  • English: (Ottawa-Valley) toun, teun
  • Geordie: toon
  • Middle Scots: toun, town, tone
    • Scots: toun, toon
  • Yola: teoune, teoun

tun m (feminine ta)

1. (Anglo-Norman) your (second-person singular possessive pronoun)

• vostre (second-person plural form)

Inherited from Latin tonus (the original meaning being "thunderclap", as with the Romance cognates). See also the doublet ton (“tone”), borrowed through French.

• Audio:

  (file)

tun n (plural tunuri)

1. cannon
2. (archaic, popular) thunderclap

• tuna
• tunet

• tùn (Sutsilvan)
• tung (Surmiran)

From Latin tonus.

tun m

1. sound
2. thunder

• IPA^(key): /túːn/

tȗn m anim

1. tuna

   Synonym: túna

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	tun
gen. sing.	tuna
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	tun	tuna	tuni
genitive (rodȋlnik)	tuna	tunov	tunov
dative (dajȃlnik)	tunu	tunoma	tunom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	tun	tuna	tune
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	tunu	tunih	tunih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	tunom	tunoma	tuni

• “tun”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

From Proto-Somaloid *tum- (“to pound”). Compare Iraqw tuu' (“pound”) and Dahalo tuntumu (“fist”).

Cognate with Maay tumow, Dabarre tun, Rendille tum, Jiiddu tomaal, Daasanach tuntun (“blacksmith”), Oromo tumuu, Afar tume (“dig, poke”), Tsamai tuntuma (“punch”).

tun (causative tumi, passive tuman, middle tumo)

1. (transitive) strike

• tumaal (“blacksmith”)

• “tun”, in Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga, 2012

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tun m (plural tunes)

1. a Pre-Hispanic percussion instrument from Guatemala, consisting of a hollow wooden block with slits in the sides

• “tun”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

From Old Norse tún, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to finish, come full circle”). Cognate with Danish tun (“enclosed area”), Icelandic tún (“hayfield”), Norwegian Nynorsk tun (“farmstead; courtyard”), English town, German Zaun (“fence”), German Low German Tuun (“fence”), Dutch tuin (“garden”).

• IPA^(key): /tʉːn/
• Rhymes: -ʉːn

tun n

1. (archaic, dialectal) courtyard (an area surrounded by buildings)

tun c

1. (Gotland) fence

• Tunberg, Thunberg

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tuRun, compare Malay turun.

tun

1. To descend.

Inherited from Proto-Algonquian *-eton.

tun inan (plural tuna)

1. mouth

• Rementer, Jim with Pearson, Bruce L. (2005), “tun”, in Grant Leneaux, Raymond Whritenour, editors, The Lenape Talking Dictionary, The Lenape Language Preservation Project
• Rementer, Jim with Pearson, Bruce L. (2005), “tuna”, in Grant Leneaux, Raymond Whritenour, editors, The Lenape Talking Dictionary, The Lenape Language Preservation Project

• IPA^(key): /tʊn/, [t̪ʰʊn]
• Hyphenation: tun

tun (plural tunlar)

1. night

Chemical element (edit)
Sn Atomic number 50 tun
Classification data Period 5 Group 14 Block p-block Class post-transition metal
Previous: ← indiwm (In)
Next: antimoni (Sb) →

• (obsolete) tyn

Borrowed from English tin, from Middle English tin, from Old English tin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin, from Proto-Germanic *tiną.

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /tɨ̞n/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /tɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɨ̞n

tun m (plural tuniau or tunnau)

1. tin (metal)

   Synonyms: alcam, ystaen

2. tin (metal container), tin can

   Synonym: can

Potential source of confusion: Element 310, triunnilium (systematic element name), would go by the chemical symbol Tun. However, the feasibility of an element with such a high atomic number, is iffy.

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “tun”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

tun

1. tooth