khaki vs tan

khaki

noun
  • A dull, yellowish-brown colour, the colour of dust. 

  • khaki (Pantone) 

  • A British person (from the colour of the uniform of British troops, originally in the Second Boer War; compare rooinek). (In this sense the plural generally is khakies.) 

  • khaki green 

  • A soldier wearing a khaki uniform. 

  • Khaki clothing or uniform. 

  • Khaki green, a dull green colour. 

  • A strong cloth of wool or cotton, often used for military or other uniforms. 

adj
  • Dust-coloured; of the colour of dust. 

tan

noun
  • A yellowish-brown colour. 

  • Synonym of picul, particularly in Cantonese contexts. 

  • A twig or small switch. 

  • A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources. 

  • An Armenian drink made of yoghurt and water similar to airan and doogh 

  • The bark of an oak or other tree from which tannic acid is obtained. 

adj
  • Yellowish-brown. 

  • Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun or an artificial process intended to mimic this effect. 

verb
  • To change an animal hide into leather by soaking it in tannic acid. To work as a tanner. 

  • To kill by gun, to shoot. 

  • To spank or beat. 

  • To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun. 

num
  • The second cardinal number two, formerly used in Celtic areas, especially Cumbria and parts of Yorkshire, for counting sheep, and stitches in knitting. 

How often have the words khaki and tan occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )