Alans

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Large hunting dogs of an old breed, once kept for chasing and bringing down game
2. Powerful, heavily built hounds of a medieval kind that were used to hunt big animals
3. Historic breed of big sporting dogs, valued in earlier centuries for hunting and guarding

Etymology: "Alans" is the plural of "alan," an Old English term for a large hunting dog, akin to the modern mastiff or greyhound-type breeds used to pursue game. The singular form descends from the Latin "alanus," a word for a hound from the Alani, the Iranian-speaking nomadic people who ranged across the Eurasian steppe and whose dogs were prized in the Roman world. The plural simply follows the regular English pattern of adding an "s" to the singular.