English
fan-tan
Fan-tan comes from Cantonese 番攤.
- Cantonesemodern番攤literally ‘repeated divisions’
- Englishearliest quotation 1984fan-tan
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Cantonesemodern番攤literally ‘repeated divisions’
- Englishearliest quotation 1984fan-tan
Earliest quotation: 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1): “He came in an said Pack, we were booked…”
The story
Borrowed from Cantonese 番攤 /番摊 (faan¹ taan¹, literally “repeated divisions”).
Every English word from Cantonese 番攤
Today it means
noun A Chinese gambling game in which coins or other small objects are placed upon a table, usually under a cup, and the players bet as to what remainder will be left when the sum of the counters is divided by four.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Cantonese 番攤 / fan-tan