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wynd

UK/waɪnd/US/waɪnd/
nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: wynds

A wynd is a narrow lane between houses. A steep wynd, a cobbled wynd, up the wynd to the kirk.

It is a Scottish word and survives mostly in street names in the old towns. A wynd is usually too narrow for a cart and often has steps in it.

Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0

Definitions of wynd

  1. 1nounwyndA narrow lane between houses.C2

    “The wynd came out on the harbour steps.”

wynd is a lane.

Where it comes from

Middle English wynde, probably from wynden, to wind or turn, from the way such a lane bends between buildings.

  1. Middle English

    wynde

  2. English, today

    wynd

Built from

  • wynden · Middle English — to wind, proceed, go

From Middle English wynde, probably from wynden (“to wind, proceed, go”). Compare also Old English ġewind; Old Norse venda.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

wynd in the wild

  • In Scotland and Northern England, a wynd () is a narrow lane between houses.

    Wynd

  • In many places wynds link streets at different heights and thus are mostly thought of as being ways up or down hills.

    Wynd

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.