Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • suffix home of; place where one stays; used especially in place names

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Persian ستان (stān) and Sanskrit स्थान (sthā́na), both deriving from common Indo-Iranian verbal stem √sthā ("to stand, stay"), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), whence also English verbs stay and stand.

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Examples

  • “You need your proof of education and your signed contract,” she responded, not looking at me but leafing through my passport in search of stamps from Afghanistan or Pakistan, or some other “-stan.”

    Full Frontal Nudity Harry Hamlin 2010

  • And while we’re at it, the Persian suffix -stan in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and de facto Kurdistan means “country,” from the Indo-Iranian stanam, “place” or “where one stands.”

    The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

  • And while we’re at it, the Persian suffix -stan in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and de facto Kurdistan means “country,” from the Indo-Iranian stanam, “place” or “where one stands.”

    The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

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