Etymologically
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spin

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /spɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English spinnen, inherited from Old English spinnan (“to draw out and twist fibres into thread”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną,[2][3] also the source of Old Norse spinna, Dutch spinnen, German spinnen and Gothic spinnan.[2][3][4] It comes from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pen- (“to draw, stretch, spin”).[2][3] spindle is formed from it.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To draw out and twist fibres into thread: before 800.[3]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive sense “to make thread” developed in late Old English.[2] Of spiders and silkworms forming threads it is from the late 14th century and the 1510s.[2] Figuratively, to produce in a way like spinning, it is from the 1550s;[2] spin a yarn, to tell a long story, is nautical, from sailors' rope-making and their tall tales.[5] To make something turn rapidly is from the 1610s,[2] and to revolve rapidly is first recorded in Milton's Paradise Lost (1667).[3][2] The noun, a whirling motion, is from 1831,[6][2] a twisting delivery in cricket from 1851,[2][6] a fairly fast ride from 1856,[2] and the steep spiralling descent of an aircraft from 1915.[6] In physics, a property of elementary particles is from 1926.[2] To play a record is from 1936.[2] The sense “a slant given to information”, and spin doctor, came from the American presidential campaign of 1984.[2][5]

Timeline

  • before 800 – to spin thread.[3]
  • 1667 – to revolve rapidly.[3]
  • 1831 – the noun, a whirling.[6]
  • 1851 – in cricket.[2]
  • 1926 – in physics.[2]
  • 1984 – spin doctor.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To turn round and round quickly, or to make something do this.
  2. To make thread by drawing out and twisting fibres.
  3. Of a spider or insect, to make a web or cocoon from threads.
  4. To tell a story, especially an invented one: spin a yarn.
  5. To present news or information in a way that favours oneself.

Noun

  1. A fast turning movement.
  2. (informal) A short ride in a car for pleasure.
  3. A way of presenting information to give a favourable impression.
  4. (physics) A property of elementary particles.

Word family

  • spinless
  • spinnability
  • spinnable
  • spinner
  • spinster
  • outspin
  • overspin
  • spinout

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 f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press