*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of fanon

From Middle English fanon, fanoun, from Old French fanon, from Medieval Latin fanō, from Frankish *fano, from Proto-Germanic *fanô. Doublet of fane and vane.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A vestment reserved only for the Pope for use during a pontifical Mass. · Part of a bishop's mitre. They are the tabs extending down from the mitre, often with a cross near the end of each. See lappet. · A maniple. · A fold of linen laid under a splint.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English fanon, fanoun, from Old French fanon, from Medieval Latin fanō, from Frankish *fano, from Proto-Germanic *fanô. Doublet of fane and vane.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionfanonenm
  • Derivation mentionfanonfro
  • Derivation mention*fanôgem-pro
  • Doublet mentionfaneen
  • Doublet mentionvaneen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "fanon"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English fanon"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "fanon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French fanon"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "fanō"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin fanō"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frk",
        "3": "*fano"
      },
      "expansion": "Frankish *fano"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*fanô"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *fanô"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fane",
        "3": "vane"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of fane and vane"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fanon",
      "fanon#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fanoun",
      "fanoun#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fanon",
      "fanon#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "fanō",
      "fano#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*fano",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/fano"
    ],
    [
      "*fanô",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fanô"
    ],
    [
      "fane",
      "fane#English"
    ],
    [
      "vane",
      "vane#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A vestment reserved only for the Pope for use during a pontifical Mass.",
        "Part of a bishop's mitre. They are the tabs extending down from the mitre, often with a cross near the end of each. See lappet.",
        "A maniple.",
        "A fold of linen laid under a splint."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "3a5651a669d3a2b759e034f6ddddc7692f83174a4eba4a9c31f130616c82b971",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2b8c92949e5ed9e2306f1d6552c4fa46dc944e372cddf1be5a7642224b38f3d9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 829284
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Elements introduced by fans which are not in the official canon of a fictional world but are widely believed to be or treated as if canonical.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Blend of fan + canon.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Blend componentfanen
  • Blend componentcanonen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "blend",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fan",
        "3": "canon"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of fan + canon"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fan",
      "fan#English"
    ],
    [
      "canon",
      "canon#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Elements introduced by fans which are not in the official canon of a fictional world but are widely believed to be or treated as if canonical."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang",
        "uncountable"
      ],
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for fanon →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZmFub24