wind

English Online Dictionary. What means wind‎? What does wind mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).

Alternative forms

• winde (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: wĭnd, IPA^(key): /wɪnd/
• (archaic) enPR: wīnd, IPA^(key): /waɪnd/
• Rhymes: -ɪnd

Noun

wind (countable and uncountable, plural winds)

1. (countable, uncountable) Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure.
2. Air artificially put in motion by any force or action.

3. (countable, uncountable) The ability to breathe easily.

4. (figurative) News of an event, especially by hearsay or gossip.

5. (figurative) A tendency or trend.
6. (philosophy, alchemy) One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans; air.
7. One of the five basic elements in Indian and Japanese models of the Classical elements.
8. (uncountable, colloquial) Flatus.

   to pass wind

9. Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument.
10. (music) The woodwind section of an orchestra. Occasionally also used to include the brass section.
11. A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points.
12. Types of playing-tile in the game of mah-jongg, named after the four winds.
13. A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing.
14. (figurative) Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words.
15. A bird, the dotterel.
16. (boxing, slang) The region of the solar plexus, where a blow may paralyze the diaphragm and cause temporary loss of breath or other injury.

Synonyms

• (movement of air): breeze, draft, gale; see also Thesaurus:wind
• (flatus): gas (US); see also Thesaurus:flatus

Derived terms

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: win
• Torres Strait Creole: win

Translations

See also

Verb

wind (third-person singular simple present winds, present participle winding, simple past and past participle winded or (proscribed) wound)

1. (transitive) To blow air through a wind instrument or horn to make a sound.
2. (transitive) To cause (someone) to become breathless, as by a blow to the abdomen, or by physical exertion, running, etc.

3. (transitive, British) To cause a baby to bring up wind by patting its back after being fed.
4. (transitive, British) To turn a boat or ship around, so that the wind strikes it on the opposite side.
5. (transitive) To expose to the wind; to winnow; to ventilate.
6. (transitive) To perceive or follow by scent.

7. (transitive) To rest (a horse, etc.) in order to allow the breath to be recovered; to breathe.
8. (transitive) To turn a windmill so that its sails face into the wind.

Usage notes

• The form “wound” in the past is occasionally found in reference to blowing a horn, but is often considered to be erroneous. The October 1875 issue of The Galaxy disparaged this usage as a “very ridiculous mistake” arising from a misunderstanding of the word's meaning.
• A similar solecism occurs in the use (in this sense) of the pronunciation /waɪnd/, sometimes heard in singing and oral reading of verse, e.g., The huntsman /waɪndz/ his horn.
• A British canal is very often too narrow for a full-length boat to turn around. To allow changes of direction, recesses are dug into one of the banks every few miles. They are used by nosing the boat into the recess, and then pulling the stern around until the bow can be pulled out with the boat facing the opposite direction. For a motorised boat, the stern is moved around by using engine power with the rudder hard over; however, for horse-drawn boats (the vast majority of boats for the first 160 years), the crew would pole the stern around. It is irrelevant whether or not the wind then strikes the boat on the opposite side. However, the poling is analogous to what would often be required to allow a sailing boat setting off from a mooring to catch the wind on the most advantageous side for a safe departure. Although there are other theories, this is probably the reason the recesses are called winding holes.

Descendants

• ⇒ Tok Pisin: winim

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English wynden, from Old English windan, from Proto-Germanic *windaną. Compare West Frisian wine, Low German winden, Dutch winden, German winden, Danish vinde, Walloon windea. See also the related term wend.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wīnd, IPA^(key): /waɪnd/
• Rhymes: -aɪnd
• Homophones: wined, whined (wine–whine merger)

Verb

wind (third-person singular simple present winds, present participle winding, simple past and past participle wound or winded)

2. (transitive) To turn coils of (a cord or something similar) around something.
3. (transitive) To tighten the spring of a clockwork mechanism such as that of a clock.

4. (transitive) To entwist; to enfold; to encircle.
5. (intransitive) To travel in a way that is not straight.
6. (transitive) To have complete control over; to turn and bend at one's pleasure; to vary or alter at will; to regulate; to govern.
   • 12 October 1710, Joseph Addison, The Examiner No. 5

     Were our legislature vested in the person of our prince, he might doubtless wind and turn our constitution at his pleasure.

7. (transitive) To introduce by insinuation; to insinuate.
8. (transitive) To cover or surround with something coiled about.

9. (transitive) To cause to move by exerting a winding force; to haul or hoist, as by a winch.
10. (transitive, nautical) To turn (a ship) around, end for end.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Esperanto: vindi

Translations

Noun

wind (plural winds)

1. The act of winding or turning; a turn; a bend; a twist.

References

• “wind”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vənt/

Etymology 1

From Dutch wind, from Middle Dutch wint, from Old Dutch wint, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“blowing”), present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).

Noun

wind (plural winde, diminutive windjie)

1. wind (movement of air)

Etymology 2

From Dutch winden.

Verb

wind (present wind, present participle windende, past participle gewind)

1. (higher register) to wind

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• wénn, winn, wend

Etymology

From Old High German wint, from Proto-Germanic *windaz. Cognate with German Wind, Dutch wind, English wind, Icelandic vindur, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 (winds).

Noun

wind m

1. (Carcoforo) wind

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋɪnt/
• Hyphenation: wind
• Rhymes: -ɪnt
• Homophone: wint

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wint, from Old Dutch wint, from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“blowing”), present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).

Noun

wind m (plural winden, diminutive windje n)

1. wind (movement of air)

   De wind waait door de bomen. ― The wind blows through the trees.

2. flatulence, fart

   Synonyms: bout, buikwind, ruft, scheet

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wind
• Berbice Creole Dutch: wende
• Negerhollands: wind, win, wen
• Skepi Creole Dutch: went
• → Aukan: winta
• → Sranan Tongo: winti

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch wint. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

wind m (plural winden, diminutive windje n)

1. (obsolete) greyhound

Derived terms

• windhond

Related terms

• hond

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

wind

1. inflection of winden:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

wind

1. Alternative form of wynd

Etymology 2

Verb

wind

1. Alternative form of wynden (“to wind”)

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wind.

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian wind, Old Saxon wind, Dutch wind, Old High German wint (German Wind), Old Norse vindr (Swedish vind), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 (winds). The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin ventus (French vent), Welsh gwynt, Tocharian A want, Tocharian B yente.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wind/

Noun

wind m

1. wind
2. flatulence

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: wynd, wend, wende, wind, winde, wynde
  • English: wind
  • Scots: wind, win
  • Yola: weend, wyeene