Chin
nounThe protruding part of the face below the lower lip, formed over the front of the lower jaw.
How to spell chin
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce chin
What does chin mean?
- nounThe protruding part of the face below the lower lip, formed over the front of the lower jaw.
Chin in a sentence
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A drop of soup landed on his chin during dinner.
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She rested her chin on her hand while reading the report.
Where does chin come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
The word descends from Old English 'cinn', meaning the chin or jawbone, which in turn comes from a Proto-Germanic root that gave Dutch 'kin' and German 'Kinn'. Beyond the Germanic family it traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'jaw' or 'cheek', the same ancient source that produced the Greek 'genus' (jaw) and parts of related body-part vocabulary. The spelling has stayed remarkably short and stable across more than a thousand years, with the original 'c' simply shifting to the 'ch' spelling that English uses for that sound. Because it is such an old, plain word, it carries no Latin or French dressing and offers no silent letters to trip over. The familiar phrase 'keep your chin up' preserves the literal sense of holding the head and jaw raised.
How the word is built
- chin (single Old English root; no prefix or suffix)
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