Link Centre Dictionary

whin

UK/wɪn/ US/ʍɪn/ uncommon

noun

1.
2.
3.

any of various hard colored rocks (especially rocks consisting of chert or basalt)

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English whynne, from Old Norse hvein (“gorse, furze”) (compare Norwegian kvein (“bent grass”), Swedish ven (“bent grass”), dialectal hven (“swamp”)), apparently from hvein (“swampy land”), from Proto-Germanic *hwainō, *hwin- (“swamp; moor”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to soil; mud; filth”). Compare Latin caenum (“filth”), Latin inquīnō (“to sully; soil”).

Phrases

  • Brockley Whins
  • moor whin
  • needle whin
  • petty whin
  • whin bruiser
  • whin sparrow
  • whin thrush

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.