Word: wind Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”). Cognates Cognate with Yola weend, wyeene (“wind”), North Frisian win, winj (“wind”), Saterland Frisian Wíend (“wind”), West Frisian wyn (“wind”), Alemannic German wend, wind, winn, wénn (“wind”), Bavarian bint, Wind (“wind”), Cimbrian and Mòcheno bint (“wind”), Dutch wind (“wind”), German and German Low German Wind (“wind”), Luxembourgish Wand (“wind”), Yiddish ווינט (vint, “wind”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish vind (“wind”), Faroese and Icelandic vindur (“wind”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 (winds, “wind”), Latin ventus (“wind”), Welsh gwynt (“wind”), Sanskrit वात (vā́ta, “wind”), Russian ве́тер (véter, “wind”), perhaps Albanian bundë (“strong damp wind”). Doublet of athlete, vent, weather and nirvana. Pronunciation: /ˈwɪnd/, /ˈwaɪ̯nd/ 1. Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The wind blew through her hair as she stood on the deck of the ship. Example: As they accelerated onto the motorway, the wind tore the plywood off the car's roof-rack. 2. Air artificially put in motion by any force or action. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the wind of a cannon ball Example: the wind of a bellows 3. The ability to breathe easily. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: After the second lap he was already out of wind. Example: The fall knocked the wind out of him. 4. News of an event, especially by hearsay or gossip. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: to catch wind of something Example: Steve caught wind of Martha's dalliance with his best friend. 5. A tendency or trend. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: the wind of change Example: But many of those issues failed to draw Spanish voters, or even scared them, and the country’s election results went contrary to Europe’s political winds. 6. One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans; air. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. One of the five basic elements in Indian and Japanese models of the Classical elements. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. Flatus. Labels: colloquial, uncountable Example: to pass wind 9. Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Their instruments were various in their kind, / Some for the bow, and some for breathing wind. 10. The woodwind section of an orchestra. Occasionally also used to include the brass section. Labels: countable, uncountable 11. A woodwind instrument. Occasionally also used to describe a brass instrument. Labels: countable, uncountable 12. A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the four winds Example: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain. 13. Types of playing-tile in the game of mah-jongg, named after the four winds. Labels: countable, uncountable 14. A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing. Labels: countable, uncountable 15. Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: Nor think thou with wind / Of airy threats to awe. Example: Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. 16. A bird, the dotterel. Labels: countable, uncountable 17. The region of the solar plexus, where a blow may paralyze the diaphragm and cause temporary loss of breath or other injury. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable 18. (usually as the wind) Something irrelevant; something that can be explained away. Labels: countable, ironic, slang, uncountable Example: I don't know, man, must've been the wind. Example: Zack be blaming the wind with this one...😭🙏 19. Ellipsis of wind power (“source of electricity”) Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Example: Invest in wind for example through the municipality's energy company Example: In China, onshore wind is cheaper than gas-fired power, at $77 per MWh versus $113, but it is much more expensive still than coal-generated electricity, at $44, while solar PV power is at $109.