trepan

Syllables: tre·pan/tɹɪˈpæn/US/tɹəˈpæn/

trepan noun: a tool used to bore through rock when sinking shafts. Also the alternative spelling of trapan.

Noun

trepan (plural trepans)

A tool used to bore through rock when sinking shafts.
A surgical instrument used to remove a circular section of bone from the skull; a trephine.

Verb

trepan (third-person singular simple present trepans, present participle trepanning, simple past and past participle trepanned)

(transitive) To create a large hole by making a narrow groove outlining the shape of the hole and then removing the plug of material remaining by less expensive means.
To use a trepan; to trephine.

Also used as

trepan is also the alternative spelling of trapan.

Forms of trepan

Noun
plural	trepans
Verb
third-person singular present	trepans
present participle	trepanning
past participle	trepanned
past	trepanned

Origin of trepan

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French trepan, from Latin trepanum, from Ancient Greek τρύπανον (trúpanon, “auger, borer”). Doublet of trephine.

See trapan.

Words formed from trepan

Words that rhyme with trepan

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about trepan

What does trepan mean?: Trepan means a tool used to bore through rock when sinking shafts.
What part of speech is trepan?: Trepan can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce trepan?: Trepan is pronounced /tɹɪˈpæn/ (UK).
What is the plural of trepan?: The plural of trepan is trepans.

Words near trepan in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: trepan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-trepan.wav.

Cite this entry: “trepan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trepan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.