Wind

How to spell wind

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce wind

What does wind mean?

1. nounThe natural movement of air across the land or sea.
2. verbTo turn, twist or coil something, or to follow a twisting course.

Wind in a sentence

• noun

  A cold wind blew across the empty car park.

• verb

  Remember to wind the old clock before going to bed.

• noun

  The forecast warned of strong wind along the coast.

• verb

  The narrow lane will wind up the hillside past the farm.

Where does wind come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This single spelling actually covers two words that fell together. The noun meaning moving air comes from the Old English wind, a common Germanic word with relatives in Dutch wind and German Wind, all tracing back to a root meaning 'to blow'; the Latin ventus (source of 'ventilate') and 'wind' are distant cousins from the same ancient family. The verb meaning to twist, turn or coil is a different Old English word, windan, meaning 'to turn, wind or wrap', which is why it rhymes with 'find' rather than 'sinned'. Over centuries the two unrelated words came to be spelled identically, leaving English with a classic heteronym where the spelling never changes but the vowel does. The verb sense survives in everyday phrases like winding a clock or a winding road, while the noun gave us 'window', literally a 'wind-eye' or opening for air. The trap for writers is not the spelling but remembering that one form is read with a short vowel and the other with a long one.

How the word is built

• wind (from Old English wind: moving air); the twisting verb is the same spelling from a separate Old English root windan: to turn or wrap