▪ I. wain, n.1
(weɪn)
Forms: 1 wæᵹn, (weᵹn), wæᵹen, wǽn, 2–3 Orm. waȝȝn, 3–7 wayne, waine, 4–7 wayn, (5 wayen, 6 waayne, 4 Sc. vayn), 4–5 weyne, (5 wene, 6 weene, weane, 7 wean, whene), 5–7 wane, 3– wain.
[OE. wæᵹen, wǽn, str. masc. = OFris. wein str. masc. (mod.WFris. wein, woin, wīn, NFris. wein, wā(i)nj), OLow Frankish reidi-wagan (MDu. waeghen, Du. wagen), MLG., LG. wagen, OHG. wagan str. masc. (MHG., G. wagen), ON. vagn str. masc. cart, barrow (Norw. vagn the Great Bear, vogn cart, Da. vogn, Sw. vagn cart):—OTeut. *waᵹno-z:—pre-Teut. *woghno-s f. Indogermanic root *wegh-, *wogh- to carry, etc.: cf. weigh, waw vbs., way n. Outside Teut. cognate words of similar meaning are Irish fén (:—pre-Celtic *weghno-s) wagon, Gr. ὄχος (ϝόχος:—*wogho-s), chariot, Skr. vahana neut., vāhana neut., chariot.
The pre-Teut. form may possibly have been *weghno-s, corresponding with the pre-Celtic form; there is some evidence of an OTeut. change of we- to wa- before consonant groups.]
1. A large open vehicle, drawn by horses or oxen, for carrying heavy loads, esp. of agricultural produce; usually four-wheeled (but see 1 b); a wagon.
The word does not occur in the Bible of 1611, though Wyclif and the 16th c. translators use it. As a colloquial word it survives only in dialects, but in poetry it is commonly used instead of wagon.
| Beowulf 3134 Þær wæs wunden gold on wæn hladen. c 725 Corpus Gl. (Hessels) U 143 Ueniculum [read Uehiculum], wæᵹn. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2362 He bad cartes and waines nimen, And fechen wiues, and childre, and men, And gaf hem ðor al lond gersen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8596 Þat þer nas non so heuy charge of wayn ne of oþer þinge þat me ne miȝte ouer grete wateres boþe lede & bringe. a 1300 Cursor M. 5229 His suns all and þair flitting,..In weynis war þai don to lede. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 164 That apon his cowyn gat he Men that mycht [ane] enbuschement ma, Quhill that he vith his vayn suld ga Till lede thaim hay in-to the peill. Ibid. xi. 24 A litill stane oft, as men sayis, May ger weltir ane mekill wane. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxxii. (1495) 646 And at the laste heye is led home in cartes and in waynes and broughte in to bernes for dyuers vse and nedes. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 137 Thei haue noo howses, caryenge theire wyfes and children in waynes [L. in plaustris]. 1449 Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Somerset Rec. Soc.) 92 For custom for our wene to Bristowe warde comyng and goyng, iiij d. 1473 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 182 The said tenandis..sal led to the abbay viii score of fuderis of petis the abbai fyndand wanis meit and drink to the ledaris. 1521 Lincoln Wills (1914) I. 88 To William my son my bonden wane, ij oxen that cam from Hornecastell, [etc.]. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 And or he shall lode his corne, he muste haue a wayne, a copyoke, [etc.]. 1576 Act 18 Eliz. c. 10 §1 Everye person..shalbe charged to finde..one Carte Wayne Tumbrell..Carres or Dragges furnished for thamendment..of the Highe wayes within the severall Parishes. 1588 in Archæologia LXIV. 366 For viij weanes of Pilleseley which ladd Timber from Penttridge, xvj d. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 19 Alexander the great set on fier with his owne hands the wanes of carriage taken from Darius. 1627 May Lucan v. I i, The horses trample ore Safely where ships haue saild; the Bessians Furrow Mæotis frozen backe with waines. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 46 Wee leade in our winter corne usually with three waines. 1688 W. Scot Hist. Name Scot i. (1894) 35 According to the old Proverb, They but fell from the Wains tail. 1731 T. Boston Mem. vii. (1899) 106 On Thursday..came the wains with the household-furniture from Dunse. 1784 Cowper Task i. 296 From the sun-burnt hay-field, homeward creeps The loaded wain. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner i. 29 That far-off tinkling's drowsy cheer,..The Wain announces. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxv, The highways..were choked with loaded wains, whose axle-trees cracked under their burdens. 1827 O. W. Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. 210 A few large wains or waggons. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 608 The wains which carried the ammunition remained at the entrance of the moor. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cxxi, The team is loosen'd from the wain, The boat is drawn upon the shore. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 565 Wain, the obsolete form of wagon, is still in daily use in some parts of the United States, e.g. in the peninsula east of the Chesapeake. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §5. 197 To the lesser nobles..the long wain of goods as it passed along the highway, was a tempting prey. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 32 Some of the Avon villages are full of interest. Here you may see the great four-horse wain, common on the roads in the days of our grandfathers. |
b. In local uses, applied to some particular kind of wagon or cart.
| 1534 in Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII, VII. 208 One weene with two whyles. 1726 Dict. Rust. (ed. 3) s.v. Cart, It is a Cart when drawn by Horses, having two sides called Trills; but a Wain when drawn by Oxen, and having a Wain-Cope. 1796 W. Marshall West Eng. II. 7 A singular kind of two-wheel carriage, for Horses or Oxen, is here [sc. Cornwall] in common use;..it is called a ‘wain’; and it is a hay cart, or wain, without sides, having only two arches bending over the wheels, to keep the load from bearing upon them! with a wince behind. 1832 Scoreby Farm Rep. 4 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The wain, a large cart upon broad wheels, with a pole, and drawn by a pair of oxen, is much used at Scoreby. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss. s.v., The veritable Wain, now never seen, was a narrow, long-bodied vehicle, with two wheels only, and these at the hinder end. The front or foremost end trailed along the ground. |
c. poet. A car or chariot. Chiefly
fig. or in mythological use. In
ME. often applied to the Four Gospels, symbolized as a four-horsed chariot (
= L.
quadriga).
| c 1200 Ormin Pref. 21 Þatt waȝȝn iss nemmnedd quaþþrigan Þatt hafeþþ fowwre wheless. a 1300 Cursor M. 21264 Four ar þai tald, þe wangelistes Þat draues þe wain þat es cristes. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 258 See now þe secunde wheel in þis deuelis wayn. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 630 Wher halved is þe standyng estyval Of fresche Appollo with his golden Wayn. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Jan. 74 Phœbus gan auaile, His weary waine. 1590 ― F.Q. i. iv. 19 May seeme the wayne was very euill led When such an one had guiding of the way, That knew not, whether right he went, or else astray. 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III) 86 Not when the moon accomplishing her way Upon her silver wayne..presents the day. 1706 De Foe Jure Divino ii. 239 [They] jointly drive the Wain of Government. 1714 Steele's Poet. Misc. 112 He..charm'd the Wain of Night along, With his soft harmonious Song. 1885–94 Bridges Eros & Psyche April xx, They set on high upon the bridal wain Her bed for bier, and yet no corpse thereon. |
| Proverb. 13.. All too Late 7 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 250 Al to late. al to late. þen is te wayn atte yate. c 1420 Wyntoun Cron. i. 640 Than to cry mercy is to lait, The wane þan standis at þe ȝate. |
d. A wain-load, wagon-load.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage iv. x. (1614) 395 Thither they bring euery yeare an hundred and fiftie waines of twigges. |
† e. poet. winged wain, a ship.
Obs.| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 194 The Masters skilfull most, With gentle gales driv'n to the wished Coast, Not with lesse labour guide there winged wayns On th'azure fore-head of the liquid plains. |
2. (Now with capital initial.) The group of seven bright stars in the constellation called the Great Bear: more fully
Charles's Wain.
Lesser Wain: the similarly shaped group of seven stars in the Little Bear.
OE. had
wǽnes þ{iacu}sl or
þ{iacu}sla, ‘pole or poles of the wain’. With Scott's ‘Arthur's slow wain’
cf. ‘Arthouris Plowe’,
Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 682; Arthur here represents Arcturus, regarded as the teamster or wagoner of the plough or wain.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §3 Swa swa tunglu..þe we hatað wænes ðisla. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. met. v. 5 Who so þat.. wot nat why þe sterre Bootes passeþ or gadereþ his weynes. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 280 We iudged them to bee the chariotte or wayne of the south. 1601 Holland Pliny vi. xxii. I. 130 The starres about the North pole, called Septentriones, the Waines or Beares. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vi. 95 The..two Bears..Whose hinder parts and Tails contain The lesser and the greater Wain. 1703 Pope Thebais 521 When clouds conceal Boötes golden wain. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. xvii, Arthur's slow wain his course doth roll In utter darkness round the pole. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. xiii. 7 The wain, that, in the bosom of our sky, Spins ever on its axle night and day. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. ci, At noon or when the lesser wain Is twisting round the polar star. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 437 The-wain-and-horses, sb., Ursa Major. 1887 Bowen æneid i. 744 Bright Arcturus, the showery Hyads, the Bear, and the Wain. |
¶ 3. A rendering of L.
plaustrum (
lit. ‘wagon’) used in the Vulgate for a kind of thrashing instrument with wheels.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xli. 15, I haue set thee as a newe wayn [1609 Douay, a newe threshing wayne] thresshende. 1778 R. Lowth Isa. xxviii. 27–28 Nor is the wheel of the wain made to turn upon the cummin: But the dill is beaten out with the staff; And the cummin with the flail: but the bread⁓corn with the threshing-wain. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. Obvious combinations, as
† wain-axtree,
wain-blade (
blade n. 10 b),
wain-body,
† wain-cart,
wain-driver,
wain-felloe,
† wain-folk,
wain-gear,
wain-head (also
attrib.),
wain-horse,
wain-load,
wain-wheel.
| 1559 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 136 One pare of newe car wheles, both *wane ashe tres [etc.]. |
| 1557 Ibid. 101 A pare of *wayne blayds. |
| 1390–91 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 392 In factura unius *waynbody, 6 d. |
| a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & P. (facs.) F ij, One preached of late not farre hence, in no Pulpet, but in *Waayne carte, That spake enough of this. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Wayne dryuer, iugarius. |
| 1360 Priory of Finchale (Surtees) p. liii, j gange de *waine⁓felies de fraxino. 1558 Wills Northern C. (Surtees) I. 162 Twoo gang of wayne fellowes w{supt}{suph} heades and moldeburdes. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 53 It is a greate furtherance to have one to teame the waines whiles that the *wainefolkes are att breakefast. |
| 1538 Test. Ebor. VI. 75 All maner of..*wayne geir. 1557 Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc.) II. 128 Waynes and wayne geare. |
| 1551 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 59 One *waynehedeyoke, one bolt and one shakill. 1557 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 101 One yron bound wayne..with wayne hed, [etc.]. 1562–3 Durham Wills (Surtees) III. 28 An yrone bounde wayne with a turne teame and a waine head shakle. |
| 1727 E. Laurence Duty of Steward 71 The Steward should see that the *Wain-Horses and Oxen be muzzled, to prevent their cropping the young Springs. 1800 J. Hurdis Favourite Village 57 The stout wain-horse of encumbrance stript. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. 101 b, An other [oak] in an other place, that being cutte out, made a hundred *Wayne lode. 1700 O. Heywood Diaries (1885) IV. 238 A wainload of timber, 8 oxen and an horse. |
| 1559 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 136 One pare of newe *waine wheles. |
b. Special comb.:
† wain-beam, the pole of a wagon (used to translate L.
temo);
† wain-clout, the iron covering for the axle-tree of a wagon (see
clout n.2 2);
† wain-cope (see
quot. and
cope,
cop n.4);
wain-flakes dial. [
= MLG. wagenvleke], the movable side-boards of a wagon, used to increase its carrying capacity;
† wain-fork, a fork used in the loading of a wagon;
† wain-gate1 [
gate n.1], a gate for wains to pass through;
† wain-gate2 [
gate n.2], a cart-track, wagon-road;
wain-house (
obs. exc. dial.), a wagon-house, cart-shed;
† wain-money, ? tolls collected from wains (
E.D.D.);
† wain-rake, a rake used in the loading of a wagon with hay, etc.;
† wain-shackle, ? a coupling for a wagon (see
shackle 6 a);
wain-stang dial., the projecting pole of a cart on either side of which oxen or horses may be yoked;
† wain-string, ?
= wain-rope;
† wain-stroke, a curved segment forming part of the iron rim or tire of a wagon wheel (
cf. stroke n.4);
wain-trees dial., the axle-beams supporting the wagon;
† wain-way, a wagon-road;
† wain-weight, ? a wagon-load.
| 1589 Fleming Virg. Georg. iii. 42 Let it creake afterwards, and let the brasen *wainbeame strong Draw both the wheels together ioind. 1650 Horn & Rob. tr. Comenius' Gate Lang. Unl. Foundat. T 9 One overcom with wine guid's the wain-beam [L. temonem] rashly. |
| 1454 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 149, ij *wayneclowtez. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 The wheles..must haue an axiltre, clout with .viii. waincloutes of yren. 1596 Durham Wills (Surtees) II. 259, v teames, ij horse-teames.., vij wayne cloutes [etc.]. |
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 339/2 The *waine Cop, that part which the hinder Oxen are yoked unto to draw the Waine. 1726 Dict. Rust. (ed. 3) s.v. Cart, The Wain-Cope, is a long piece that comes out from the Wain-body, to which Oxen are fasten'd. |
| 1570 Richmond Wills (1853) 101 In the yard and parke..a pare of *wayne fleaks. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Wainfleeaks, the moveable side-boards of the waggon, adapted to heighten it. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 46 Allowinge to each waine two folkes, viz., a forker and a loader; and theire implements which they are to carry to field with them is a *waine-forke and a waine-rake; theire waineforke should bee in length aboute two yardes and a quarter. |
| c 1680 in Sussex Archæol. Collect. (1849) II. 108 Richard Butcher..took out of y⊇ highway well nigh an acre of land, and made an enclosure of it, and set up a *wean gate and horse gate. 1596 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1601, 414/1 Cum lie cairt and wane gait ad easdem [moras]. 1661 Reg. Gt. Seal Scot. 18/2 Therefra alongst ane old waingate till you come to the Seggiesyke. |
| 1569 Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc.) I. 34 With other out howses as followith..the furmost barne..the *wayn howse [etc.]. 1791 Gentl. Mag. LXI. i. 116/1 After supper, the company all attend the bailiff (or head of the oxen) to the Wain-house. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Wain-house, wagon house or cart house. |
| 1626 Gateshead Church Bks. (E.D.D.) Recaved of the hie ward ffor *wane money, 16s. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 46 Theire *wainerakes haue (for the most parte) theire shaftes made of saugh, theire heade of seasoned ashe, and theire teeth of iron. |
| 1559 Richmond Wills (1853) 136, iij *waine shackles. |
| 1876 Whitby Gloss., *Wainstang, the pole projecting in front of the wagon for carrying stone blocks. |
| 1464 Inv. in Feodar. Priorat. Dunelm. (Surtees) 120, 1 cowpe-wayne cum *waynstrynges, precium iij.s. |
| 1596 Durham Wills (Surtees) II. 259, vij wayne cloutes, ij hay spades,..a *wayne stroke [etc.]. |
| 1876 Whitby Gloss., *Waintrees, the axle-beams supporting the wagon. |
| 1579 Nottingham Rec. IV. 189 The *whene waye goinge vpp they hill. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 38 The waine-way into this close is aboute the middle of Pinder lane, wheare yow are to pull downe a gappe. |
| 15.. Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869) I. 241 Item of a *wayne weicht of leid, that is to say xxiiij futemellis, iiij d. |
▪ II. † wain, n.2 Obs. Forms: 3–4
wayne, 4
wayn.
[a. OF. wain masc., waaigne fem., dial. varr. of gain, gaaigne: see gain n.2] 1. Profit, advantage.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 2207 Þe fyfte, þat hys Elyynge, Cryst onleke to oure wayne. 1340 Ayenb. 43 Him ne dret naȝt to done..grat harm to oþren uor a lite wayn oþer uor ureme to him. |
2. Conquest, possession gained by conquest; also, booty, spoil.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1481 Þeyr fflote wyþ al þer wayne Turnede fro þe lond of Spaigne. Ibid. 1857 Albion was Brutes wayne, Þerfore he dide hit calle Brutayne. 1338 ― Chron. (1810) 257 We rede ȝe sende to þe kyng of Almayn, & ȝour londes to defende, & reue Philip his wayn. Ibid. 297 Þe Scottis bare þam wele, Þe Waleis had þe wayn, als maistere of þat eschele. |
▪ III. † wain, n.3 Obs. In 5
wayn(e,
wayyn.
[Of obscure origin.] A hem, border.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 513/2 Wayne, of a garlement [v.r. wayn, wayyn, Pynson of a garment], lacinia. |
▪ IV. † wain, v. Obs. Forms: 2–3
Orm. waȝȝnenn, 4
vayne, 4–6
wayne, 6
waine, 7
wein.
[f. wain n.1] 1. trans. To transport in a wain or carriage.
| c 1200 Ormin Pref. 37 Goddspell forr þatt illke þing Iss Currus Salomoniss, For þatt itt..Waȝȝneþþ soþ Crist fra land to land. Ibid. 5909 Þær iss þe Laferrd Crist himm sellf, & tiderr iss he waȝȝnedd Uppo þatt hallȝhe waȝȝn. 1531–2 Durham Househ. Bk. (Surtees) 62 Pro navigacione ultra aquam cum le waynnyng 1 but malvaseti, 6 d. 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 10 Before that by the Libitinarian cure the dead was weind, the Pollinctors inbalmed the corps of the great. |
2. To carry, bring, convey.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2459 Ho wayned me þis wonder, your wyttez to reue. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 249 What wyrde has hyder my iuel vayned. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus iii. ii. O ij, Pamphagus wold wayne or bring no geste to Sannios howse, but he were riche. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 107 Then neighbour..if any you see, good servant for dairie house, waine her to mee. |
b. ? To bring a report of.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 11520 He couet at the kyng,..Eneas eftsones þat erend for to wend..All þere wille for to wete & wayne at þe last. |
3. intr. To go, rush. [Perh. a different word:
cf. ON. vegna to proceed, go on.]
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7621 A thondir with a thicke Rayn thrublit in þe skewes,..As neuer water fro the welkyn hade waynit before. Ibid. 7655 Ector, wrathed at his wordis, waynit at the kyng, þat he gird to þe ground and the gost yald. Ibid. 13796 [Ho] Waynyt vp to the welkyn, as a wan clowde. |
▪ V. wain see
vain a.,
wane n.1, v.,
wean v.