whin
whin · whins
Gorse; furzeGorse; furze (Ulex spp.).
/wɪn/
Meaning
3 senses(countable, uncountable)Gorse; furze (Ulex spp.).
(countable, uncountable)The plant woad-waxen (Genista tinctoria).
Whinstone.
More definitions
- any of various hard colored rocks (especially rocks consisting of chert or basalt)
- very spiny and dense evergreen shrub with fragrant golden-yellow flowers; common throughout western Europe
- small Eurasian shrub having clusters of yellow flowers that yield a dye; common as a weed in Britain and the United States; sometimes grown as an ornamental
Origin
From Middle English whynne, from Old Norse hvein (“gorse, furze”) (compare Norwegian kveinFrom 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”).
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Forms
plural: whinsSynonyms
12 synonymsClose in meaning
- any of various hard colored rocks (especially rocks consisting of chert or basalt):whinstone
- very spiny and dense evergreen shrub with fragrant golden-yellow flowers; common throughout western Europe:gorsefurzeIrish gorseUlex europaeus
- small Eurasian shrub having clusters of yellow flowers that yield a dye; common as a weed in Britain and the United States; sometimes grown as an ornamental:woodwaxendyer's greenweeddyer's-broomdyeweedgreenweedwoadwaxenGenista tinctoria
Word family
1 related wordsDerivedwhinchat
Lessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable