Kan

Kan is a term that appears in diverse languages and fields, and it does not refer to a single concept. Different uses include language codes, biological markers, and personal names.

In linguistics and language coding, 'kan' is the ISO 639-3 code for Kannada, a Dravidian language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kannada, which has its own script, is among the major languages of India. The token 'kan' may also appear as a transliteration component in names from various languages.

In biology and biotechnology, 'kan' commonly stands for kanamycin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic used as a selectable agent in microbiology. Bacteria or plasmids carrying kanamycin resistance are selected on media containing the antibiotic, and the resistance gene is often abbreviated KanR or simply KAN on vectors.

In Turkish, kan means blood, a semantic element found in everyday language and in compounds such as kan bağı (blood bond) or kan bağışına (blood donation).

Kan is also used as a personal name or surname in some cultures, and appears in various geographic and cultural contexts as a proper noun. In some cases it is a shortened form or variant of longer names.

Because Kan has multiple unrelated meanings, it is commonly clarified by context or additional qualifiers, such as Kan (language) for Kannada or KanR/KAN for antibiotic resistance.