Etymologically
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din

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dine,[2][3] inherited from Old English dyne (“noise, a loud sound”), also dynn,[4][5][6][7] from Proto-Germanic *duniz.[5][2][8][9] It is related to Old Norse dynr (“din”) and Old High German tuni (“din”),[2][10][11] and to Middle Low German dōn (“noise”).[3] The Germanic noun comes from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwen- (“to make a noise”),[5][2][3] the source also of Sanskrit धुनि (dhúni, “roaring”) and ध्वनति (dhvánati, “it roars, resounds”);[2][3][10] Klein calls the base imitative.[3] The verb is inherited from Old English dynian (“to resound”), also dynnan,[4][2][3] related to Old Saxon dunian (“to roar, rumble”), Middle High German tünen (“to roar, rumble”) and dynja (“to come rumbling down”).[4][6][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, to sound or resound, is found in Beowulf, dated about 725 by Barnhart.[2][4] The noun, a loud noise, especially a continued confused sound that stuns or distresses the ear, is recorded in the Old English Solomon and Saturn poem.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the noun was dine, from probably before 1200, and the verb dunien (in Layamon) and later dinen.[2] The old intransitive verb, to resound, died out in the early 16th century.[4][12] New transitive uses were formed from the noun: to assail with din (1674)[4][2] and to repeat something so often that it wearies the hearer, especially to din something into someone (1724).[4][10] Hobbes used the noun in 1651 for a ringing in the ears.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as a loud noise, a violent and continued sound.[13] In Scots and northern English dialect din also meant loud talking and report or fame, and hold thy din meant be quiet.[14]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – verb, to resound (Beowulf).[2][4]
  • Old English – noun, a loud noise (Solomon and Saturn).[4]
  • before 1200 – Middle English dine.[2]
  • 1651 – a ringing in the ears (Hobbes).[4]
  • 1674 – to assail with din.[4][2]
  • 1724 – to din something into someone.[4]
  • 1798 – intransitive, to make a din (Wordsworth).[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A loud, continuous and confused noise; an uproar: We could barely talk over the din of the traffic.[15][10][12]

Verb

  1. To instil something by constant repetition, usually with into: Her father had dinned the rules into her.[15][10][4]
  2. To assail or deafen with noise.[15][10][4]
  3. To make a din; to resound.[15][10][4]
  4. (obsolete) To sound or ring with sound (Old English–1513).[4][12]

Usage notes

The capitalised DIN, a series of German technical standards used for paper sizes, film speeds and electrical connectors, is an unrelated acronym of German Deutsche Industrie-Norm (“German Industrial Standard”).[4][11][10]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins