chin English · revision 10585

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=ang cin}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʃɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|cin]], cinn (probably before 832; earlier in the compound cinberg, about 725),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a general Germanic word: Old Saxon and Old High German kinni (German Kinn), Old Norse kinn, cheek, and Gothic kinnus, cheek.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It goes back to an Indo-European word probably meaning “jaw”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) seen also in Latin gena, cheek, Greek génus, jaw, Sanskrit hánu-, jaw, chin, Welsh gen, jaw, chin, and Tocharian A śanwem, jaws.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The part of the face below the lower lip, about 1000 in the OED;^(OED 1989) Etymonline notes traces of an earlier sense “jaw”, as in Old English cinbane, jawbone.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline observes that words for cheek, chin and jaw naturally overlap: [[cheek]] itself first meant “jaw”.^(Etymonline) The verb, to press chin to chin, is from the 1590s,^(Etymonline) to put a violin under the chin from 1869,^(Etymonline) and the American slang sense, to talk or chatter, from 1883,^(Etymonline) with the noun, a talk or insolent talk, from 1877.^(OED 1989) ''Keep one's chin up'', stay cheerful, is from 1913,^(Etymonline) and ''take it on the chin'', an image from boxing, from 1924.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – cinberg.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – the chin.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – to chin (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – to chatter (US slang).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1913 – keep one's chin up.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1924 – take it on the chin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The front part of the lower [[jaw]], below the lips.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''keep one's chin up'': to stay cheerful in difficulty.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''take it on the chin'': to face defeat or hardship bravely.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pull oneself up on a bar until the chin is level with it.^(AHD)

+ # To hold a violin under the chin.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' To chatter.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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”.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}