The term "tanner" has multiple meanings, depending on the context. Here are some of the most common definitions:
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One who tans hides: A tanner is a person whose occupation is to tan hides, or make leather from animal skins.
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A unit of currency: In British English, a tanner is a slang term for a sixpence, which was a pre-decimalization coin worth six pennies.
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Tanner stages: Tanner stages, also known as Sexual Maturity Rating (SMR), is an objective classification system used by healthcare providers to document and track the development and progression of puberty in children and adolescents. Tanner Stages are utilized in pediatric and adolescent practice to counsel patients about the timing of anticipated body changes, perform appropriate medical screenings, and monitor for deviations in normal timing and sequence of physical signs of puberty that may represent physiologic problems. Tanner Staging, rather than chronological age, should be used in assessing pubertal development. Tanner Stages range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the pre-pubertal form and 5 being the final adult form. Changes that are associated with but not directly measured by Tanner staging include bone growth and fusion, body composition and linear growth, and hematocrit values.
