chin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʃɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English cin, cinn (probably before 832; earlier in the compound cinberg, about 725),^[2][3][4] a general Germanic word: Old Saxon and Old High German kinni (German Kinn), Old Norse kinn, cheek, and Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌿𐍃 (kinnus), cheek.^[2][3][4] It goes back to an Indo-European word probably meaning “jaw”,^[3][4][2] seen also in Latin gena, cheek, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus), jaw, Sanskrit hánu-, jaw, chin, Welsh gen, jaw, chin, and Tocharian A śanwem, jaws.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The part of the face below the lower lip, about 1000 in the OED;^[5] Etymonline notes traces of an earlier sense “jaw”, as in Old English cinbane, jawbone.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline observes that words for cheek, chin and jaw naturally overlap: cheek itself first meant “jaw”.^[3] The verb, to press chin to chin, is from the 1590s,^[3] to put a violin under the chin from 1869,^[3] and the American slang sense, to talk or chatter, from 1883,^[3] with the noun, a talk or insolent talk, from 1877.^[5] Keep one's chin up, stay cheerful, is from 1913,^[3] and take it on the chin, an image from boxing, from 1924.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – cinberg.^[2]
• c. 1000 – the chin.^[5]
• 1590s – to chin (verb).^[3]
• 1883 – to chatter (US slang).^[3]
• 1913 – keep one's chin up.^[3]
• 1924 – take it on the chin.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The front part of the lower jaw, below the lips.
2. keep one's chin up: to stay cheerful in difficulty.
3. take it on the chin: to face defeat or hardship bravely.

Verb

1. To pull oneself up on a bar until the chin is level with it.
2. To hold a violin under the chin.
3. (informal) To chatter.

Word family

• chinless
• chinbone
• chinfest
• chinwag
• chin-up
• underchin
• chin music
• double chin

Related words

• genial
• jaw
• cheek

Usage notes

The Chin, a people of the Chin Hills of Myanmar, take their name from Burmese, “hill man”.^[6][5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster