whin

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) Gorse; furze (Ulex spp.).
2. (countable, uncountable) The plant woad-waxen (Genista tinctoria).

Synonyms

gorse

whinstone

furze

dyer’s-broom

woadwaxen

woodwaxen

greenweed

dyeweed

Irish gorse

dyer’s greenweed

basalt

Ulex europaeus

Genista tinctoria

trap rock

skylark

trap

🪤

trappide

Translations

ajonc

ginestrone

tojo

tojo

argelaga

aulaga

Stechginster

aliaga

ajoncs

gaspeldoorn

ginestrella

Genista tinctoria

ginestra minore

Ulex europaeus

toja

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɪn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: whynne

Cognate with Norwegian: kvein

Cognate with Swedish: ven

Cognate with Latin: caenum

Cognate with Latin: inquīnō

In summary

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”).