- pan (n.)
- O.E. panne, earlier ponne (Mercian), from W.Gmc. *panna (cf. O.N. panna, O.Fris. panne, O.L.G. panna, O.H.G. phanna, Ger. pfanne), probably an early borrowing (4c. or 5c.) from V.L. *patna, from L. patina "shallow, pan, dish," from Gk. patane "plate, dish," from PIE base *pet- "to spread." Ir. panna probably is from English, and Lith. pana is from German. Used of pan-shaped parts of mechanical apparatus from c.1590; hence flash in the pan, a figurative use from early firearms, where a pan held the priming (and the gunpowder might "flash," but no shot ensue). The verb meaning "criticize severely" is from 1911. To pan out "turn out, succeed" (1868) is a figurative use of the lit. sense (1839) from panning for gold. To go out of the pan into the fire is first found in Spenser (1596).
- pan (v.)
- "follow with a camera," 1913 shortening of panoramic, from panoramic camera (1878). Meaning "to swing from one object to another in a scene" is from 1931. Panavision (1955) is a proprietary name of a type of wide-screen lens.
- Pan
- Arcadian shepherd god with upper body of a man and lower part like a goat, c.1369, a god of the woods and fields, from L., from Gk. Pan, perhaps cognate with Skt. pusan, a Vedic god, guardian and multiplier of cattle and other human possessions, lit. "nourisher." Similarity to pan "all" (see pan-) led to his being regarded as a personification of nature. Pan-pipe, upon which he supposedly played, is attested from 1820.