The Meaning of Sans: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of sans? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word sans, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word sans mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster, the word sans is a preposition that means without or lacking something. This word can also be used as an abbreviation for Sanskrit.

There are many different languages that use words that mean sans. You may notice that sometimes different languages have words that are very close to English words or to words of other languages. This is usually because the words share a root or origin. Often, cognates, which are words that look, sound, and mean something similar across languages, are formed when words share an origin. This list of translations for the word sans is provided by Word Sense.

  •  Ancient Greek: ἄνευ‎
  •  Hungarian: nélkül‎
  •  Istriot: sensa‎
  •  Old French: senz‎
  •  Venetian: sensa‎
  •  Ngazidja Comorian: pvatsina‎
  •  Arabic: بِدُونَ‎ (bi-dūna), بِغَيْرِ‎ (bi-ḡayri), بِلَا‎, خَلَا‎
  •  Luxembourgish: ouni‎
  •  Rumi: tanpa‎, tidak ada‎, tidak ber-‎ (followed by noun), sonder‎
  •  Portuguese: sem‎
  •  Urdu: بنا‎
  •  Ido: sen‎
  •  Yiddish: אָן‎
  •  Scottish Gaelic: gun‎, às aonais‎
  •  Hawaiian: nele‎, ʻole‎
  •  Esperanto: sen‎
  •  Ukrainian: без‎
  •  Belarusian: без‎
  •  Kurdish: bê‎
  •  Italian: senza‎
  •  Moroccan Arabic: بْلى‎ (bla)
  •  Interlingua: sin‎
  •  Old Provençal: ses‎
  •  Cantonese: 冇‎ (mou5)
  •  Greek: χωρίς‎, δίχως‎, άνευ‎
  •  Latin: sine‎, absque‎, expers‎ (masc.), nudus‎ (masc.), nuda‎ (fem.), nudum‎ (neut.), expers‎, iners‎
  •  Hebrew: בלי‎ (bli)
  •  Bulgarian: без‎
  •  Polish: bez‎
  •  Finnish: ilman‎, -tta/-ttä (abessive case), vailla‎
  •  Basque: gabe‎, barik‎
  •  Hindi: बिना‎, बग़ैर‎
  •  Albanian: pa‎
  •  Catalan: sense‎
  •  Khmer: ដោយគ្មាន‎ (daoee kmeeun)
  •  Lower Sorbian: bźez‎
  •  Sanskrit: विना‎
  •  Slovene: brez‎
  •  Egyptian: mḫm‎
  •  Spanish: sin‎
  •  Dalmatian: siansa‎
  •  Pitjantjatjara: wiya‎
  •  Tok Pisin:
  •  Tajik: бе‎
  •  Old French: sans‎, sanz‎
  •  Lithuanian: be‎
  •  Macedonian: без‎
  •  Irish: gan‎
  •  Swedish: utan‎
  •  Korean: 없이‎
  •  Roman: bèz‎
  •  Japanese: なし‎, 無し‎
  •  Romanian: fără‎
  •  Jawi: تنڤا‎, تيدق اد‎, تيدق بر-‎ (followed by noun), سوندر‎
  •  Thai: ไม่มี‎ (mâi mee)
  •  Vietnamese: không có‎
  •  Galician: sen‎
  •  Dutch: zonder‎
  •  Walloon: sins‎
  •  Welsh: heb‎
  •  Estonian: ilma‎ + -ta (abessive case)
  •  Lojban: secau‎
  •  Persian: بی‎ (bi), بدون‎ (bedun-e)
  •  French: sans‎, pas de‎ (Quebec, informal), avec pas de‎ (masc.) (Quebec, informal)
  •  Faroese: uttan‎
  •  Asturian: ensin‎
  •  Aramaic: די לא‎
  •  Icelandic: án‎
  •  Egyptian Arabic: من غير‎ (men ġer)
  •  Georgian: გარეშე‎, უ- -ო‎ (circumfix on nouns), უ- -ოდ‎ (circumfix on nouns)
  •  Slovak: bez‎
  •  Navajo: tʼáágééd‎
  •  German: ohne‎
  •  Turkish: -siz‎
  •  Alemannic German: ooni‎
  •  Armenian: առանց‎
  •  Latvian: bez‎
  •  Breton: hep‎
  •  Rapa Nui: kokore‎
  •  Mandarin: 沒有‎, 没有‎ (méiyǒu), 無‎, 无‎ (wú)
  •  Latgalian: bez‎
  •  Danish: uden‎
  •  Czech: bez‎, beze‎
  •  Occitan: sens‎
  •  Cyrillic: бѐз‎
  •  Ladino: sin‎
  •  Quechua: -nnaq‎
  •  Volapük: nen‎
  •  Russian: без‎ (+ genitive case)
  •  Norwegian: uten‎
  •  Friulian: cence‎
  •  Norman: sans‎

What is the origin of the word sans?

According to Etymonline, the word sans has been used since the c13 or early 14c Middle English saunz and the earlier sens .This comes from the Old French sanz/sens, from the Latin sine influenced by Latin absentiā/Latin absentia, and Latin absēns, the  present participle of abesse.  The Old French is a variant of Latin sine/sens (with adverbial genitive). These are cognates to the Spanish sin, Old Spanish sen, Old French sen, Old Catalan senes, Old Italian sen, Provençal senes, and more similar to senz, souci, and sene.

What are synonyms and antonyms of sans?

There are a variety of different words that one can use in place of the word sans. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same or a similar meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are useful to know if you are trying to expand your vocabulary as well as if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself. This list of synonyms for the word sans is provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  incomplete
  •  defective
  •  free
  •  with the omission of
  •  void
  •  deprived
  •  but
  •  default
  •  except for
  •  wanting
  •  insufficient
  •  in default of
  •  failing
  •  destitute of
  •  outside of
  •  stretched
  •  nor
  •  freer
  •  not including
  •  forbye
  •  robbed of
  •  neither
  •  not making it
  •  bare-skinned
  •  in the absence of
  •  beside
  •  missing
  •  in need
  •  destitute
  •  besides
  •  bereft
  •  short
  •  leaving out
  •  past
  •  devoid
  •  not liable to
  •  exempt from
  •  nowhere
  •  omitting
  •  cut off from
  •  absent
  •  exclusive of
  •  except
  •  deficient
  •  other than
  •  but not
  •  stripped of
  •  excluding
  •  with no
  •  lacking in
  •  starved
  •  needed
  •  less
  •  not hacking it
  •  coming up short
  •  unless
  •  excepting
  •  flawed
  •  minus
  •  nonexistent
  •  out of
  •  sine
  •  in the contrary case
  •  saving
  •  bar
  •  deficient in
  •  but for
  •  disregarding
  •  clear of
  •  poor
  •  impaired
  •  without
  •  barring
  •  elsewhere
  •  save
  •  with the exclusion of
  •  in want of
  •  empty
  •  unencumbered by
  •  devoid of
  •  with the exception of
  •  save and except
  •  unaffected by
  •  exclusion of
  •  inadequate
  •  not counting
  •  clean out of
  •  ignoring
  •  apart from
  •  empty of
  •  aside from
  •  lacking
  •  deprived of
  •  excused from
  •  needing
  •  behind one’s back
  •  sanz
  •  barren of
  •  passing over
  •  outside

There are also numerous words and phrases that are antonyms for the word sans . Antonyms are words and phrases that have the opposite meaning as another word or phrase. Opposite words are helpful to know if you are trying to expand your knowledge of the English language. This list of antonyms is provided by Power Thesaurus as well.

  •  about
  •  plus
  •  under
  •  among
  •  for
  •  herewith
  •  per
  •  on
  •  into
  •  because
  •  using
  •  as a result
  •  have
  •  upon
  •  by
  •  after
  •  against
  •  via
  •  notwithstanding
  •  down
  •  over
  •  beside
  •  because of
  •  by dint of
  •  thereby
  •  at
  •  by virtue of
  •  across
  •  amidst
  •  within
  •  from
  •  amid
  •  through
  •  by reason
  •  than
  •  before
  •  alongside
  •  coupled with
  •  together with
  •  in addition to
  •  and
  •  along with
  •  towards
  •  along
  •  including
  •  by means of
  •  in consequence of
  •  in
  •  as well as
  •  in spite of

How can the word sans be used in a sentence?

Martha used san serif fonts to decorate the pumpkin for her incoming guest Quinn.

He would have enjoyed the video game Undertale if he had received it sans-crack. It was completely shattered in shipping.

She believed Shakespeare was sans flaw in his doctrine.

After this bottle of bourbon, we will be sans worry.

Overall, the word sans means without. This word is French in origin.

Sources:

  1. sans | Origin and meaning of sans | Online Etymology Dictionary 
  2. sans: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  3. Sans synonyms – 101 Words and Phrases for Sans | Power Thesaurus 
  4. Sans antonyms – 14 Opposites of Sans | Power Thesaurus 
  5. Sans definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary