resin

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English resyn, also recyn and rosyn,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French resine, and directly from Latin rēsīna.^[4][5][6][2] The Anglo-Norman forms reisine and resine are recorded from the end of the 12th century.^[4] The Latin word goes back to Ancient Greek ῥητίνη (rhētínē, “resin of the pine”),^[6][7][8][9] through an unrecorded East Greek dialect variant, according to Barnhart and the American Heritage Dictionary.^[5][10] The OED thinks that the Latin and Greek words were probably both borrowed from a non-Indo-European language,^[4][11] and Barnhart calls the Greek word of non-Indo-European origin;^[5] Etymonline and Ayto call it of unknown origin.^[6][12] Partridge suggested a link with Ancient Greek ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow”).^[13] A medieval Latin variant, rosīna, gave English rosin.^[12][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sticky substance that oozes from certain trees: before 1382, in the early Wycliffite Bible,^[4][5] in the verse of Jeremiah that Weekley quotes as "Whether resyn is not in Galaad".^[14] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word had the variant rosin, which Weekley thinks is the older form in English; the Wycliffite Bible has both.^[14] The two later separated, rosin being kept for the solid left after distilling turpentine.^[12][2] Johnson (1755) described resin as "the fat sulphurous parts of some vegetable".^[15] From 1681 the word was applied to substances like natural resin obtained by chemical treatment,^[4] and Etymonline dates its use for synthetic products to 1883;^[6] the synthetic resins of plastics are now one of its main senses.^[9][4] The verb, to rub or coat with resin, especially a violin bow, is recorded from 1760,^[4][8] and since 1980 resin has also meant cannabis resin.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1382 – a sticky substance secreted by trees, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[4][5]
• 1681 – a substance resembling natural resin, made by chemical treatment.^[4]
• 1760 – verb, to rub or treat with resin.^[4][8]
• 1834 – adjective use, made of resin.^[4]
• 1883 – applied to synthetic products.^[6]
• 1980 – cannabis resin.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sticky, flammable substance secreted by many plants, especially conifers such as pines and firs, and used in varnishes and medicine: Amber is fossilized resin.^[9][8][4]
2. Any of many synthetic substances with a polymeric structure, used to make plastics, adhesives and coatings.^[9][4]
3. Cannabis resin.^[4]

Verb

1. To treat or coat with resin: She resined the bow before the concert.^[9][8][4]

Word family

• resinous
• resinlike
• resorcin
• resorcinol
• oleoresin
• resinate
• resiniferous
• resinify

Related words

• rosin

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
14. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.