Dictionary Definition
Wain
Noun
1 English writer (1925-1994) [syn: John Wain,
John
Barrington Wain]
2 a group of seven bright stars in the
constellation Ursa Major [syn: Big Dipper,
Dipper, Plough, Charles's
Wain, Wagon]
3 large open farm wagon
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
etyl ang wægn, from , from . Cognate with Dutch wagen, German Wagen, Swedish vagn. Compare wagon.Pronunciation
/weɪn/Noun
- (archaic or literary) A wagon; A four-wheeled cart for
hauling loads, usually pulled by horses or oxen.
- "The Hay Wain" is a famous painting by John Constable.
- In the context of "paganism": A chariot used by the gods and goddesses or a symbolic cart
used in rituals and shrines in Heathenry.
- Behind the Mother's wain we must travel. (Thunorwine)
Related terms
Extensive Definition
A wain is a type of horse-drawn, load-carrying
vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather
than transporting people, for example a haywain. It normally has four
wheels but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations
so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a
two-wheeled 'haywain' would be a hay cart, as opposed to a carriage. "Wain" is also an
archaic term for chariot.
Builders of wains were known as wainwrights, just
as the builders of carts were known as cartwrights. These trades no
longer exist, but the terms survive as the surnames of descendants
of those practising these crafts.
The vehicle was the subject of John
Constable's 1821 painting The Hay
Wain. The painting, which was part of Constable's Gold Medal
exhibit to Charles X,
depicts a site in Suffolk, near
Flatford on the river Stour.
People
- Bea Wain
- Charles' Wain, see Big Dipper
- David Wain
- Edward Wain, see Robert Towne
- John Wain
- Louis Wain
- Richard William Leslie Wain
- William Wain Prior
Others
- Burmeister & Wain, see MAN B&W Diesel
- Wain (Württemberg), a municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany