-an 1suff.1. Of, relating to, or resembling: brachyuran.2. One relating to, belonging to, or resembling: librarian.[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -?nus, adj. and n. suff.]-an 2suff.1. Unsaturated carbon compound: furan.2. Anhydride of a carbohydrate: dextran.[Alteration of -ane.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.-an , -ean or -iansuffix1. (forming adjectives and nouns) belonging to or relating to; a person belonging to or coming from: European. 2. (forming adjectives and nouns) typical of or resembling; a person typical of: Elizabethan. 3. (forming adjectives and nouns) adhering to or following; an adherent of: Christian. 4. (forming nouns) a person who specializes or is expert in: dietitian; phonetician. [from Latin -?nus, suffix of adjectives]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014an1 (?n; when stressed æn) indefinite article. the form of a 1 before an initial vowel sound(an arch; an honor) and sometimes, esp. in British English, before an initial unstressed syllable beginning with a silent or weakly pronounced h: an historian. [before 950; Middle English; Old English ?n one] usage: See a1. an3 (?n; when stressed æn) prep. the form of a2 before an initial vowel sound: 14 dollars an ounce; 55 miles an hour.usage: See per.an2 or an’ (?n; when stressed æn) ‘n, ‘n’, conj. 1. Pron. Spelling. and. 2. Archaic. if. [1125?75; Middle English, unstressed phonetic variant of and] an-1 , a prefix occurring orig. in loanwords from Greek, with the meanings ?not,? ?without,? ?lacking? ( anaerobic; anhydrous; anonymous); regularly attached to words or stems beginning with a vowel or h.Compare a-6. [