flan

Etymology 1

Borrowed around 1846 from French flan (“cheesecake, custard tart, flan”), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (“pie; cake”)), from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþō (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“broad, flat”); compare German Fladen. Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”). Doublet of flathe. Although the -n is generally believed to derive from the Late Latin accusative form (fladonem) of fladō (“flat cake”), it might alternatively derive from an inflected form of the Frankish word (such as the Frankish accusative *flaþan, or the like). For a similar case, see garden.

noun

1. (chiefly UK, Australia) Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)
   The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes such as the […] broccoli flan. 2004, Shawn Blore, Alexandra de Vries, Frommer's Brazil, page 175
2. (chiefly US, Belize) A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries.
3. (numismatics) A coin die. (Compare planchet.)

Etymology 2

verb

1. (architecture) To splay or bevel internally, as a window-pane.

Etymology 3

English, from a slip of the tongue by actor Nathan Fillion.

noun

1. (informal, fandom slang) A fan of the U.S. TV series Firefly.
   (some) Firefly flans call themselves Browncoats (Remember, the hot movie from Universal is out this September! :) 29 January 2005, P. Burrows, “Re: Name for Lost fans?”, in rec.arts.sf.tv (Usenet)
   For what it's worth, I'm 27 and am a huge Firefly/Serenity flan. 18 June 2006, Geoff Aldrich, “Re: SciFi promotion [Was Firefly fans skew older?]”, in alt.tv.firefly (Usenet)
   I'm glad this wasn't the first flan group I came across or I would never have realised the great nature of the majority of browncoasts. 21 January 2007, Tal, “Re: Nude Jewel Staite? Close enough.”, in alt.tv.firefly (Usenet)