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Van vs Can - What's the difference?

van | can |

As nouns the difference between van and can

is that van is a (covered) vehicle used for carrying goods or people, usually roughly cuboid in shape, longer and higher than a car but smaller than a truck while can is a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.

As verbs the difference between van and can

is that van is to transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses) while can is to know how to; to be able to.

As abbreviations the difference between van and can

is that van is abbreviation of lang=en|Vancouver while Can is an alternative spelling of Can.|lang=en.

As a proper noun Van

is a male given name, diminutive of Vance or Ivan.

As an initialism CAN is

the Andean Community of Nations.

van

English

Etymology 1

Short for caravan.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A (covered) vehicle used for carrying goods or people, usually roughly cuboid in shape, longer and higher than a car but smaller than a truck.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.}}
  • (British) A railway carriage.
  • (UK, dated) A light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.
  • .
  • * 1667 , (John Milton), Paradise Lost , book 5, lines 588–590:
    • Ten thousand thousand Ensignes high advanc'd, / Standards, and Gonfalons twixt Van and Reare / Streame in the Aire, and for distinction serve
  • * 1698 , Ned Ward, The London Spy
    • Then a bumper to the Queen led the van of our good wishes, another to the Church Established, a third was left to the whim of the toaster
  • * 1965 , translated by Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, '', book 4 ''Vir??a Parva , section 33, page 84:
    • Bh??ma then outlined the following strategy: “… Let Kar?a, clad in armour, stand in the van . And I shall command the entire army in the rear.”
  • .
    • Derived terms
    * detector van * divvy van * driving van trailer * goods van * panel van * * white van man

    See also

    * lorry * transit (UK) * truck

    Verb

    (vann)
  • To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).
  • * 1966 , United States Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce:
    • I have to have a license to own them, a license to train them, my jockey has to have a license to ride them, the van company must have a license to van them, and the black shoe man must have a license to shoe them.
  • * 1999 , Bonnie Bryant, Changing Leads , p. 53:
    • [They] had their own horses, but they hadn't bothered to van them over to Pine Hollow for this outing.

    Etymology 2

    (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (mining) A shovel used in cleansing ore.

    • Verb

    (vann)
  • (mining) To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel.
    • (Raymond)

    Etymology 3

    (etyl) (lena) : compare (etyl) van and English (l), (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.
  • A wing with which the air is beaten.
  • * Milton
    • So Satan fell; and strait a fiery globe / Of Angels on full sail of wing flew nigh, / Who on their plumy vans receiv'd him soft
  • * Dryden
    • He wheeled in air, and stretched his vans' in vain; / His ' vans no longer could his flight sustain.

    Anagrams

    * ----

    can

    English

    (wikipedia can)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m) (first and third person singular of , Danish (m). More at canny, cunning.

    Verb

  • To know how to; to be able to.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}
  • May; to be permitted or enabled to.
  • To be possible, usually with be .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
    • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.
  • To know.
  • * ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
    • I can rimes of Robin Hood.
  • * ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
    • I can no Latin, quod she.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can .
    Usage notes
    * For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to , as: ** I might be able to go. ** I was able to go yesterday. ** I have been able to go, since I was seven. ** I had been able to go before. ** I will be able to go tomorrow. * The word could also suffices in many tenses. "I would be able to go" is equivalent to "I could go", and "I was unable to go" can be rendered "I could not go". (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, "could verb''" means "would be able to ''verb''", but "could not ''verb''" means "was/were unable to ''verb ".) * The present tense negative can not'' is often contracted to ''cannot'' or ''can't . * The use of can'' in asking permission sometimes is criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative ''"may I...?" . * Can'' is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, ''"Can you hand me that pen?"'' as a polite substitution for ''"Hand me that pen." * Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can't'' ( even when stressed.
    Synonyms
    * be able to * may
    Antonyms
    * cannot * can’t
    See also
    *

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) canne, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.
  • A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can ).
  • A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
  • (US, slang) toilet, bathroom.
  • (US, slang) buttocks.
  • (slang) jail or prison.
  • (slang) headphones.
  • (obsolete) A drinking cup.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • * Tennyson
    • Fill the cup and fill the can , / Have a rouse before the morn.
    Synonyms
    * (cylindrical metal container) tin
    Derived terms
    * beer can * can opener * carry the can * garbage can * kick at the can * kick the can / kick-the-can * kick the can down the road * trash can

    Verb

    (cann)
  • To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar.
    • They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
  • to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
    • He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
  • To shut up.
    • Can your gob.
  • (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
    • The boss canned him for speaking out.

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * * * 100 English basic words English auxiliary verbs English defective verbs English irregular verbs 1000 English basic words ----