vein English · revision 39811

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c1300, St. Michael (South English Legendary)|origins=la vēna}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /veɪn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|veine]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) [[der|la|vēna|t=blood vessel; watercourse; vein of metal; natural talent]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Ayto 2005)^(Klein 1966) The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records ''veine'' from the third quarter of the 12th century, both for a blood vessel and for a vein in the earth or in stone.^(AND) Skeat explained the Latin word as “conveyer”, from [[m|la|vehō|t=to carry]],^(Skeat 1911) and Partridge thought it perhaps akin to [[m|la|via|t=way]].^(Partridge 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OED's first sense is a small natural channel in the earth through which water flows, recorded c1300, in the ''South English Legendary''.^(OED 2026) The Oxford Dictionary of English notes that the earliest senses were “blood vessel” and “underground channel of water”;^(ODE 2010) Barnhart dates the blood-vessel sense to probably before 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder'',^(Barnhart 1988) and Etymonline to c1300.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Like the Latin word, ''vein'' carried several senses into English at once.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The anatomical sense narrowed to a vessel that returns blood to the heart, as opposed to an artery,^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) and Etymonline notes that in Middle English it also meant the blood itself, and so, like ''heart'', the seat of feeling, as in Chaucer's priest who was “glad in every vein”.^(Etymonline) The mining sense, a deposit of ore filling a crack in rock, is recorded before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden;^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline compares Greek ''phleps'', which also had both senses.^(Etymonline) A vein in a plant is recorded from a1398,^(OED 2026) and in a leaf from 1513.^(Barnhart 1988) The figurative senses followed in the 16th century: a distinctive style from 1548, a strain of some quality, as in ''a vein of humour'', from 1565,^(Barnhart 1988) and a mood or natural tendency by the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Weekley quotes Shakespeare's ''Richard III'': “I am not in the vein”.^(Weekley 1921) Streaks of colour in marble were veins by the 1640s.^(Etymonline) The verb, to mark with veins, dates from 1688; an older Scottish use, to trim a garment with a strip of contrasting material, is recorded from 1502.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * probably before 1300 – a blood vessel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c1300 – an underground channel of water.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1387 – a deposit of ore in rock.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a1398 – a vessel in the stem or root of a plant.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1502 – verb (Scottish): to trim a garment with a strip.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1548 – a distinctive style.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1565 – a strain of some quality.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – a mood or natural tendency.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1688 – verb: to mark with lines like veins.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of the [[blood vessel|alt=blood vessels]] that carry blood back towards the [[heart]]; loosely, any blood vessel.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A [[deposit]] of ore or mineral filling a crack in rock; a [[lode]] or seam.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # One of the strands of conducting tissue in a leaf, or one of the ribs in an insect's wing.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A streak of a different colour in [[marble]], wood or cheese.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A distinctive strain, quality or style running through something: ''There is a vein of sadness in her stories.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A mood or frame of mind: ''He was in a cheerful vein that evening.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To mark or pattern with lines like veins.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[veinal]]

+ * [[veinless]]

+ * [[veinlike]]

+ * [[devein]]

+ * [[intervein]]

+ * [[veiner]]

+ * [[veined]]

+ * [[veinlet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[venation]]

+ * [[venous]]

+ * [[intravenous]]

+ * [[venule]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Dictionary.com lists ''vein'', [[vain]] and [[vane]] among words that are easily confused.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}