단

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ta̠n]
• Phonetic hangul: [단]

First attested in the letters excavated from Jinju Ha clan lady's grave, early 17th century, as Middle Korean 단.

Possibly from an unattested verb *단〯다〮 (*tǎntá, “to be tied together”), seen as a root in the hapax legomenon 단기〮다〮 (tànkítá, “to fix in place by tying”), and possibly in the words 다님〮쇠〮 (tànímswóy), 단기 (tanki) (> 댕기 (daenggi)).^[1]

The apparent zero-derivation from a verb stem to a count noun is also seen in 뭇 (mut, “bundle”) (from 무ᇧ다 (mwuskta, “to bundle up”)), 가리 (gari, “pile”) (from 가리다 (garida, “to pile up”)), and 되 (doe, “a unit of volume”) (from 되다 (doeda, “to measure volume”)).

단 • (dan)

1. sheaf

• 다발 (dabal): bundle

• 짚단 (jipdan): a sheaf of straw
• 볏단 (byeotdan): a sheaf of rice

• ᄀᆞᆲ다 (Yale: kolpta): to make parallel, gather side by side
  • 갈비 (galbi): rib
  • 가리비 (garibi): scallop

Sino-Korean word from 端

단 • (dan) (hanja 端)

1. end
2. (geography) cape
3. clue

• 극단 (極端, geukdan): extreme, polarity
• 말단 (末端, maldan): end
• 단서 (端緖, danseo): clue
• 발단 (發端, baldan): beginning, origin

Sino-Korean word from 單

단 • (dan) (hanja 單)

1. only

   어제 모임에는 단 세 명만 참석했다.

   Eoje moim-e-neun dan se myeong-man chamseokhaetda.

   Only three people attended yesterday's meeting.

Back-formation from 홍단 (紅短, hongdan), 청단 (靑短, cheongdan), and 초단 (草短, chodan), all derived from Japanese 短 (tan), a clipping of Japanese 短冊 (tanzaku, “small strip of paper that can be written on”).

단 • (dan)

2. (hanafuda) A three of a kind of hwatu playing cards of the same type of 띠 (tti, “tanzaku card”).

   Coordinate term: 단 (dan)

   • 2023 or prior, “화투 [hwatu]”, in 한국민속대백과사전 [Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture]‎^[1], National Folk Museum of Korea, archived from the original on 29 May 2023:

     3단은 5끗짜리 띠를 모으는 것으로 솔·매화·벚꽃으로 된 홍단과, 모란·국화·단풍으로 된 청단, 난초·흑싸리·홍싸리로 된 초단이 있고, 3약에는 난초약·단풍약·비약이 있어 그 달에 해당하는 넉 장의 패를 모두 차지하면 되는 것이다.

     3daneun 5kkeutjjari ttireul mo'euneun geoseuro sol·maehwa·beotkkocheuro doen hongdan'gwa, moran·gukhwa·danpung'euro doen cheongdan, nancho·heukssari·hongssariro doen chodani itgo, 3yageneun nanchoyak·danpung'yak·biyagi isseo geu dare haedanghaneun neok jang'ui paereul modu chajihamyeon doeneun geosida.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• 청단 (靑短, cheongdan, “blue tanzaku”)
• 초단 (草短, chodan, “grass tanzaku”)
• 홍단 (紅短, hongdan, “red tanzaku”)

단 • (dan)

1. realis adnominal form of 달다 (dalda, “to be sweet”)