douane

Meaning

1. customs (an authority responsible for controlling the flow of goods to and from a country)
2. customs office

Gender

♀️ Feminine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dwan/

Etymology

Attested in Old French in 1281 as dohanne with the meaning “building where the rights of entry and exit of goods are earned” (Angevin Archives of Naples). In 1441 in the Middle French form doana (“rights of entry and exit of goods”). Borrowed from Sicilian Medieval Latin doana, dovana (attested from the end of the 12th century), whence the modern Italian dogana, borrowed from the Andalusian Arabic *دُوَان (*duwān), an alteration of the Arabic دِيوَان (dīwān), borrowed from Persian دیوان (divân, “customs, divan”).
Doublet of divan.