wain

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“
So off we go, like th' field-fares in the autumn--we're flittin', we're flittin Now on the wain was a tall, upright churn; as soon as Georgie had ended his speech, the lid of the churn began to clipper-clapper, and who should speak out of it but the boggart himself.

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Definitions (12)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A large open farm wagon.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • While hitched to the wain, the engine moved slowly keeping pace with the rest of the troops The Yotian council argued about the presence of the wain. —  JEFF GRUBB
  • There were catcalls among the responding cheers, but the younger brother seemed not to notice Yet much as the wain was diminished by the dragon engine that served it, so to was Mishra dimmed by his companion. —  JEFF GRUBB
  • Then would come John Thomas with the wain, and the two men would linger putting up the sheaves, linger, talking, till the dark, talking of the half-mystical things with which they both were filled. —  Lawrence - Kangaroo
  • As with any big project your enthusiasm may have started to wain, but take heart, this is an exciting week where your home is beginning to take shape. —  Apartment Therapy Main
  • With Windows Mobile on the wain, Symbian market sahre bombing by 30 per cent and Linux struggling to find a foothold in the smartphone sector, Apple's irritatingly popular handset has every player in the market playing catch-up, including Johnny-come-latelies Acer and Dell. —  The Inquirer
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This word has been looked up 66 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English wǣn, wægn; see wegh- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English wain, wayn, wein (plural waines, weines), from Anglo-Saxon wægen, wægn, wǣn = Old Saxon wagan = OFries. wain, wein = Dutch wagen = Middle Low German wagen = Old High German Middle High German G. wagen = Icelandic vagn = Swedish vagn = Danish vogn, a wain, wagon, vehicle; from AS.wegan, etc., carry, = Latin vehere, carry: see weigh. From the same ult. root are L. vehiculum (later English vehicle), Greek ο̆χος = Sanskrit vaha, a vehicle, car. Cf.wagon, a doublet of wain.
  2. Perhaps from Icelandic vegna, go on one's way, proceed: see way. Cf. wain, from the same ult. source. The Middle English “waynen,” move, etc., found in various texts, is a misreading of wayuen, i. e. wayven: see waive.
 

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/weɪn/
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