vane
Meanings
Plural: vanes
Noun
- mechanical device attached to an elevated structure; rotates freely to show the direction of the wind
- a fin attached to the tail of an arrow, bomb or missile in order to stabilize or guide it
- flat surface that rotates and pushes against air or water
- the flattened weblike part of a feather consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft
- A weather vane.
- Any of several usually relatively thin, rigid, flat, or sometimes curved surfaces radially mounted along an axis, as a blade in a turbine or a sail on a windmill, that is turned by or used to turn a fluid.
- The flattened, web-like part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft.
- A sight on a sextant or compass.
- One of the metal guidance or stabilizing fins attached to the tail of a bomb or other missile.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English vane, Southern Middle English variant of fane, from Old English fana (“cloth, banner, flag”), from Proto-West Germanic *fanō, from Proto-Germanic *fanô, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“something woven; weave; tissue; fabric; cloth”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foone (“flag, banner”), Dutch vaan (“banner, flag”), German Low German Fahn (“flag”), German Fahne. Doublet of obsolete fane (“weathercock; banner”) and fanon.
Synonyms
blade, fin, vexillum, weather vane, weathervane, web, wind vane
Scrabble Score: 7
vane is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordvane is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
vane is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary