whinn.1
/wɪn/, U.S. /(h)wɪn/ 1. The common furze or gorse, Ulex europæus.Often collective plural and singular for a clump or mass of the shrub, or a quantity of it used for fuel, fencing, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > [noun] > gorse or furze
gorsec725
furzec888
whinc1400
fur1440
quice tree1440
whin-bush1483
furzen bush1530
thorn-broom1578
thorny broom1597
fursell1639
dwarf furze1650
French furze1659
ulex1753
c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 159 A strete, Ful thik and hard,..With thornes, breres, and moni a quyn.
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 643/32 Hec saliunca, wyne.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 524/2 Whynne, saliunca.
1538 W. Turner Libellus de re Herbaria at Palivrvs Varias habet subsespecies, quarum una est frutex ille quem aliqui a whyn alij a furre nominant.
1549 in Hist. MSS Comm.: MSS Duke of Rutland (1905) IV. 352 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 2606) LXIII. 301 For fellyng and ledyng of xj lodes of whynnes..iijs. viijd.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball vi. ix. 669 The common Whyn, or great Furze.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 49v With whinnes, or with furzes, thy houell renew.
1606 in Trans. Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archæol. Soc. (1903) 3 152 That none..shall cutt any whinne to burne upon paine of vid.
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. xxiv. 258 Rough hay, full of whims [1636 whimmes, 1675 whins], thistels, or other pricking stuffe.
1698 A. de la Pryme Diary 4 May (1870) i. 178 When all their fother was done, they took green whinz,..stampt them..to bruise all their pricles, and then gave them to their beasts.
1721 A. Ramsay Ode to Ph—— ii Driving their Baws frae Whins or Tee, There's no ae Gowfer to be seen.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 597 Whins or common furze make a valuable fence.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn v Down beyond down, a vast sheet of purple heath and golden whin.
1878 S. Phillips On Seaboard 254 Between the whin and the workhouse they pulled the old fox down.
1882 Garden 13 May 324/3 The double flowering Whin (Furze).
2. Applied to other prickly or thorny shrubs, as rest-harrow and buckthorn; also to heather.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > [noun] > name applied to various types of
whin1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 288/1 Whynne, bruiere. Whynnes or hethe, bruiere.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. A.viijv Anonis called also Ononis is called..in Cambryge Shyre a whyne.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Liiv/2 A Whin, rhamnus.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Whin or Petty Whin, a Shrub, otherwise call'd Knee-holm.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 394 Whin, the rest-harrow.
3. With distinctive additions, in local names of various prickly shrubs: cammock whin n., lady-whin n., land-whin n. = petty whin (a). cat whin n. (also cat's whin) = petty whin; also dwarf furze, dog-rose, burnet-rose. heather-whin n., moor-whin n., moss-whin n., needle-whin n. = petty whin (b). petty whin n. (a) Turner's name for the Rest-harrow, Ononis arvensis; (b) the Needle-furze, Genista anglica.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > [noun] > needle-furze
petty whin1551
needle furze1597
prick-grass1616
eagle-flower1718
needle greenweed1796
needle whin1847
heather-whin1853
moor-whin1853
moss-whin1853
needle gorse1893
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > [noun] > rest-harrow
cammockc1000
ironhardOE
restelbowea1400
restharrow?1550
petty whin1551
gammock1578
ground furze1578
ground-furze1578
fin1649
cat whin1684
sitfast1808
thorny rest-harrow1822
land-whina1825
lady-whin1886
14.. MS. Laud 553 lf. 18 Reta bouis is an herbe þt me clepuþ cammok whynne or calketrap.
1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. D j Petye Whyne, or grounde Whyne, or lytle Whyne is called in latyn, & Greke ononis, and anonis... In cambryge shyre thys herbe is called a whyne, but I putt pety to it, to make dyfference betwene thys herbe, and a fur: whyche in manye places of Englande is also called a Whyne.
1597 W. Langham Garden of Health 527 Restharrow, Cammok, or Petywhin.
1650 W. How Phytologia Britannica 45 Genistella..Needle Furze or Petty Whin.
1684 G. Meriton Praise Yorks. Ale 108 (E.D.S.) Our Land is tewgh, and full of..Cat-whins.
1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 lxxxv. 377 Such barren sandy heaths where petty-whin, heather, and short furze, plentifully grow.
1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 320 Cat-whin, rosa spinosissima, burnet rose.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Land-whin, s., the rest-harrow.
1853 G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 51 G[enista] anglica. Moor-Whin: Heather-Whin: Moss-Whin.
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) Cat-whin, the dwarf whin. Ulex nanus.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Lady-whin, Ononis arvensis,..Encyclopædia of Agriculture.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
whin-bloom n.
ΚΠ
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. Whun blooms, the yellow blooms of the whin.
1865 W. Allingham Among the Heather in Fifty Mod. Poems ii Your mountain air is sweet..When..the whinbloom smells like honey.
whin-covert n.
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1843 Zoologist 1 80 Walking through a straggling whin-covert.
whin-fence n.
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1797 J. Bailey & G. Culley Gen. View Agric. Cumberland 185 Large tracts..inclosed by whin-fences.
whin-flower n.
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1897 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin xvii Making the gold coins round her neck shine like dewy whin-flowers struck by the sunrise.
whin-pod n.
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1874 R. L. Stevenson On Unpleasant Places in Ess. Trav. 246 The..crackling of the whin-pods in the afternoon sun.
whin-prick n.
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1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 13 The little white Field-Spider..imboss'd all over with black Knobs, out of..which grow bristles or prickles like whin-pricks.
whin-prickle n.
ΚΠ
1899 S. R. Crockett Kit Kennedy xxxvi As if they had been sitting on whin prickles.
whin-root n.
ΚΠ
1586 in J. Raine Depositions Courts Durham (1845) 320 My good man's horse fest at a whinne roote.
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 28 Harrows wi' teeth o' whunroots.
whin-seed n.
ΚΠ
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. i. xv. 114 Every time that the land is turned into grass, the whin-seeds near the surface will vegetate.
C2.
whin-cow n. see cow n.2
ΚΠ
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 28 Feb. (1939) 116 If you would have a horse kick, make a crupper out of a whin-cow.
whin-hack n. see hack n.1
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1585–6 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. ii. 131 iij whine hackes.
whin-kid n. a bundle of whin; hence whin-kid vb., to fence or thatch with whin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > bundle > of whin
whin-kid1651
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > furnish or surround with fence or hedge
haya1050
palea1382
palis?a1400
hain14..
tinec1440
bara1500
mound1515
impale1530
stowerc1555
palisado1607
teen1616
palisade1632
impile1633
cancel1650
wire1691
inrail1714
ring-fence1761
whin-kid1876
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > with a fence or hedge > with whin
whin-kid1876
1651 in Quarter Sessions Rec. (N. Riding Rec. Soc.) (1887) V. Six whyn kidds.
1841 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 141 The author..has lately been..warping silt, with whin or gorse kids, laid horizontally.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. (at cited word) The parcels of land [are]..whin-kydded about.
whin-linnet n. (see quots.).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Carduelinae > genus Acanthis > acanthus cannabina (linnet)
lintwhitec725
lenard1530
linnetc1530
linnet-bird1570
lintiea1831
whin-linnet1837
gorse-linnet1848
gorse-bird1885
linnet-finch1890
1837 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds I. 371 Linaria cannabina. The Brown Linnet... Whin Linnet. Greater Redpoll.
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds 625 Whin Linnet, the Common Linnet.
whin-mill n. a mill for crushing whin for horse-feed.
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > corn-mill > other types of mill
water corn mill1327
watermill1371
quern mill1590
water grist mill1636
tide-mill1640
parish mill1676
whin-mill1793
roller mill1828
saddle quern1867
walk-around1869
kibbler1882
1793 in Trans. Buchan Field Club (1935) XIV. 76 Carrying wood for the whine mile.
1893 C. A. Mollyson Parish of Fordoun 188 With a plentiful supply of oilcake and other nutritious feeding stuffs there is no place now for the whin-mill.
1957 E. E. Evans Irish Folk Ways viii. 110 The knocking stones..where the whins were ‘melled’ with a wooden maul, are sometimes to be seen in the farmyard, and there were a few water-driven ‘whin~mills’.
whin-thrush n. a local name for the redwing = winnard n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Turdus (thrush) > turdus iliacus (redwing)
wing-thrush1544
swinepipe1649
redwing1668
windle1677
winnarda1698
wind-thrusha1705
redwing fieldfare1767
redwing thrush1768
wind-throstle1826
pop1848
whin-thrush1848
Swedish nightingale1879
1848 Zoologist 6 2290 The redwing is in G[loucestershire] a ‘whin thrush’.
whin-wrack n. a species of grass (see quot.).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > holcus grasses
holcus1771
white grass1780
hose-grass1811
whin-wrack1853
velvet-grass1856
Yorkshire fog1874
1853 G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 212 Holcus mollis... Whin-wrack,—so called because it is found to occupy places whence Whins have been removed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
whinn.2
/wɪn/, /hwɪn/, U.S. /(h)wɪn/, Scottish English /hwɪn/ Scottish and northern dialect.
= whinstone n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [noun] > hard stone > whinstone
whina1400
whinstone1513
whin-rock1672
whimstone1822
whin-sill1839
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7531 He tok fiue stans rond o quin, And put þam in his scrip wit-in.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iv. vii. 8 Of ane cald hard quhyn, The clekkit that horrible mont, Caucasus hait.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 56 Greit cragis of quhin.
1599 A. Hume Hymnes sig. Di The blew paymented whun [rhyme sun].
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 3 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) If a Whin (which is the hardest sort of Stone..) lye in the way.
1799 Kendal Geol. Ess. 310 Carbonated wood is frequently found under trap, whin, or basalt.
1864 A. Miller Rise & Progr. Coatbridge ii. 8 Where the Ironstone comes into conjunction with whin it is..much impregnated with pyrites.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
whin boulder n.
ΚΠ
1874 J. Geikie Great Ice Age xi. 152 Gravel and stones with large ‘whin’ boulders.
whin gravel n.
ΚΠ
1799 Trans. Soc. Arts 17 246 Clayey loams, limestone gravel, whin gravel.
C2.
whin-dike n. see dike n.1 9b.
ΚΠ
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 29 Dykes of basaltes, or other hard stone, which are commonly called whin dykes.
1825 E. Mackenzie Hist. View Northumberland (ed. 2) I. 81 The Whin-dikes are filled with basalt, which has apparently issued hot from the interior parts of the earth.
1845 J. Phillips & C. G. B. Daubeny Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 619/1 A few faults in the magnesian limestone range of Durham and Yorkshire, as along the line of the great whindyke.
whin-float n. see float n. 20a.
ΚΠ
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Whin-float, a kind of greenstone, basalt, or trap, occurring in coal measures.
whin-rock n. whinstone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [noun] > hard stone > whinstone
whina1400
whinstone1513
whin-rock1672
whimstone1822
whin-sill1839
1672 G. Sinclair Hydrostaticks 277 An impregnable Whin-Rock, or Flinty Stone.
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xviii, in Poems (new ed.) 61 I might as weel hae try'd a quarry O' hard whin-rock.
1806 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 58 All the hills are whin-rock.
whin-sill n. a sill or layer of whinstone; also as a name for whinstone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > discontinuity or unconformity > [noun] > intrusion > sill
sill1794
whin-sill1839
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [noun] > hard stone > whinstone
whina1400
whinstone1513
whin-rock1672
whimstone1822
whin-sill1839
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 748 In Cumberland the metalliferous limestone includes a bed of trap, designated under the name of whinsill.
1845 J. Phillips & C. G. B. Daubeny Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 756/1 The origin of the whin-sill.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius iv. 128 The toadstone in Derbyshire, or the whinsill in Teesdale.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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