flan

UK: /ˈflæn/

US: (flan, flän; for 1 also Sp. flän; for 2 also Fr. flän)

Inflections of 'flan' (n):

flans

npl (All usages)

flanes

npl (When referring to Spanish cuisine)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

flan  (flan, flän; for 1 also Sp. flän;
for 2 also Fr. flän), n., pl. flans (flanz, flänz; for 2 also Fr. flän);
 [Sp.] fla•nes 

(flä′nes) for 1.
1. Food [Spanish Cookery.] a dessert of sweetened egg custard with a caramel topping.
2. Food an open, tartlike pastry, the shell of which is baked in a bottomless band of metal (flan ring) on a baking sheet, removed from the ring and filled with custard, cream, fruit, etc.
3. Currency a piece of metal shaped ready to form a coin, but not yet stamped by the die.
4. Currency the metal of which a coin is made, as distinct from its design.
• Gmc; compare Old High German flado (German Fladen) flat cake
• Late Latin fladōn-, stem of fladō
• French; Old French flaon
• 1840–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

flan / flæn/ noun

1. an open pastry or sponge tart filled with fruit or a savoury mixture
2. a piece of metal ready to receive the die or stamp in the production of coins; shaped blank; planchet

Etymology: 19th Century: from French, from Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladō flat cake, of Germanic origin