English Explanatory Dictionary

whin

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Gorse; furze (Ulex spp.).
  2. The plant woad-waxen (Genista tinctoria).
noun
  1. Whinstone.

Pronunciation

wīn /wɪn/ hwīn /ʍɪn/

Word forms

whin whins

Etymology

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”).

Derived words

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