winnow
/ˈwɪnoʊ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.88 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
Transitive verb
verb
To separate, sift, analyse, or test by separating items having different values.
Transitive verb
verb
To blow upon or toss about by blowing; to set in motion as with a fan or wings.
Literary; Transitive verb
verb
To move about with a flapping motion, as of wings; to flutter.
Dated; Intransitive verb; Literary
Example Sentences
- "By Jacob Behel, of Mifflintown, Pa.,—Improvement in winnowing Machines, Patented August 21, 1847."
- "[W]ind began to winnow the river delta's dried sediments."
- "They winnowed the field to twelve."
- "They winnowed the winners from the losers."
- "They winnowed the losers from the winners."
- "The light snow lay on the narrow and winding path before them, pure as if just fresh winnowed by the wind."
Etymology
From Middle English wyndwen, from Old English windwian (“to winnow, fan, ventilate”), from Proto-West Germanic *windwōn, from Proto-Germanic *windwōną, *winþijaną (“to throw about, winnow”), from Proto-Indo-European *wē- (“to winnow, thresh”). Cognate with West Frisian wynje (“to winnow”), dialectal Dutch winden, winnen (“to winnow”), Middle High German winden (“to winnow”), Icelandic vinsa (“to pick out, weed”), Latin vannus (“a winnowing basket”). See fan, van.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: wyndwen, windwian, *windwōn, *windwōną, *wē-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɪnoʊ/
- British English: /ˈwɪnəʊ/