WAN
WordNet
adjective
(1) Lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
"A wan smile"
(2) Abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or emotional distress
"The pallid face of the invalid"
"Her wan face suddenly flushed"
(3) (of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble
"The pale light of a half moon"
"A pale sun"
"The late afternoon light coming through the el tracks fell in pale oblongs on the street"
"A pallid sky"
"The pale (or wan) stars"
"The wan light of dawn"
noun
(4) A computer network that spans a wider area than does a local area network
verb
(5) Become pale and sickly
WiktionaryText
- Wide Area Network, as contrasted with a LAN, or Local Area Network. Used to describe a computer network that covers a large geographic area, which can refer to several buildings in a city, or several cities. Can refer to a group of LANs connected by dedicated long-distance links.
- Message latency is much more of an issue on a WAN than on a LAN.