nutmeg vs tan

nutmeg

noun
  • A grey-brown colour. 

  • The powdered seed, ready for use. 

  • The playing of the ball between the legs of an opponent. 

  • An evergreen tree (Myristica fragrans) cultivated in the East Indies for its spicy seeds. 

  • A whole nutmeg seed. 

  • A small moth, Hadula trifolii, feeding on plants and native to the Northern Hemisphere. 

verb
  • To flavour with nutmeg. 

  • To play the ball between the legs of (an opponent). 

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 nutmeg and tan occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )