wind

Meanings

Noun

• Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure.
• Air artificially put in motion by any force or action.
• The ability to breathe easily.
• News of an event, especially by hearsay or gossip.
• One of the five basic elements in Indian and Japanese models of the Classical elements.
• Flatus.
• Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument.
• The woodwind section of an orchestra. Occasionally also used to include the brass section.
• A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points, which are often called the "four winds".
• Types of playing-tile in the game of mah-jongg, named after the four winds.
• A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing.
• Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words.
• A bird, the dotterel.
• The region of the solar plexus, where a blow may paralyze the diaphragm and cause temporary loss of breath or other injury.
• The act of winding or turning; a turn; a bend; a twist.

Verb

• To blow air through a wind instrument or horn to make a sound.
• To cause (someone) to become breathless, as by a blow to the abdomen, or by physical exertion, running, etc.
• To cause a baby to bring up wind by patting its back after being fed.
• To turn a boat or ship around, so that the wind strikes it on the opposite side.
• To expose to the wind; to winnow; to ventilate.
• To perceive or follow by scent.
• To rest (a horse, etc.) in order to allow the breath to be recovered; to breathe.
• To turn a windmill so that its sails face into the wind.
• To turn coils of (a cord or something similar) around something.
• To tighten the spring of a clockwork mechanism such as that of a clock.
• To entwist; to enfold; to encircle.
• To travel in a way that is not straight.
• To have complete control over; to turn and bend at one's pleasure; to vary or alter or will; to regulate; to govern.
• To introduce by insinuation; to insinuate.
• To cover or surround with something coiled about.
• To cause to move by exerting a winding force; to haul or hoist, as by a winch.
• To turn (a ship) around, end for end.

Origin

• From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind ("wind"), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European ("wind"), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts, derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁-.
• Cognate with Dutch wind, German Wind, West Frisian wyn, Norwegian and Swedish vind, Icelandic vindur, Latin ventus, Welsh gwynt, Sanskrit वात, Russian ве́тер, perhaps Albanian bundë ("strong damp wind"). Cognate to vent.
• 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.