Vein, N. - Oxford English Dictionary

4/15/23, 5:15 AM vein, n.
: Oxford English Dictionary
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language
vein, n.
Pronunciation: Brit. /veɪn/, U.S. /veɪn/
Forms: ...
Frequency (in current use):
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French veine.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French veine, vaine...
I. A tract of ground or water, a mineral deposit, etc.

1.
a. A small natural channel or fissure within the earth, through which
water trickles or flows; a flow of water through such a channel or fissure.

In quot. 1605: a channel or fissure through which lava flows.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 639 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 318 Wellene comiez of grete
wateres and muche del of þe se þoruȝ veynes al vnder eorþe... For þare beoz ase it veynene weren onder
eorþe mani on.
▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 247 For riht as veines ben of blod In man, riht so the
water flod Therthe of his cours makth ful of veines.
a1450 (▸1408) tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) (1988) 166 (MED) Vnder þe walles he haþ veynes of
springyng well water.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. ccclxxxij/2 Lete vs al praye vnto our lord that he opene
to vs..here the vaynes of a fontayn or of a welle.
1594 T. Kyd tr. R. Garnier Cornelia ii. 370 Perceiue we not a petty vaine, Cut from a spring by chaunce or
arte, Engendreth fountaines.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 373 A burning Mountaine from his fierie
vaine, An yron Riuer rowles along the Plaine.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 227 The rapid current,..through veins Of porous Earth with kindly thirst up

drawn.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 39 b A certain Spaniard..was..said to..see the lowest Veins of
Water that run under ground.
1789 J. Brand Hist. & Antiq. Newcastle I. 442 There is an order of common-council for cutting off a vein of
water which had lately been discovered and brought into the town.
1864 W. C. Bryant Sella 487 She taught The skill to pierce the soil and meet the veins Of clear cold water
winding underneath.
1951 Indiana Mag. Hist. 47 25 Barren water veins above the oil pool were stopped by a ‘seed bag’.
2002 Time 29 July 42/3 Scientists have been finding life..in pristine veins of water two miles underground in
South Africa.
†b. A narrow stream or pool of water on the earth's surface; a rivulet.
Obsolete.
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4/15/23, 5:15 AM vein, n. : Oxford English Dictionary
a1500 (▸c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 408 (MED) Watir in fossis of the carte
whele were vaynes smale..watir in dichis made veynes more.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 158 Through the midst of these gardens, they deriue
some small vaine [L. venulam] of the riuer.
1750 tr. B. de Maillet Telliamed 87 As soon as there were Grounds, there were certainly Winds and Rains
which fell upon the first Rocks; then there were Veins of Water form'd, which carried back these Rains to
the Sea.
1841 New Sporting Mag. Sept. 177 Thence thousands of little veins pour their pure tribute down from distant
sources, to enrich the Empire stream.
c. A channel, lane, or current within a body of water. Formerly also: †an
ice lane (obsolete). Now rare.

In quot. 1851: spec. †a route through the ocean regularly taken by whales (obsolete rare).
1600 L. Lewkenor tr. A. de Torquemada Spanish Mandeuile f. 152v There are..veynes of warme water, which
keepe the Lakes longer without freezing.
1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 1 He prouideth himselfe a ship, keele, or cocke-boat, out of which he may lay
out and take in his nets, and be in the vaine and way where the best doing is.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 705 When hee entred into the Streits, he encountred a great veine of redde
water, extending it selfe from Aden as farre as they could see from the Ships tops.
1673 H. Stubbe Further Iustification War against Netherlands App. 131 The King of Sweden..hath also
several districts, channels, or veins Royal in his Seas, which are appropriated to his particular use.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions I. 229 A lane, or vein, is a narrow channel of water in packs, or other
large collections of ice.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xliv. 220 When making a passage from one feeding-ground to another, the
sperm whales, guided by some infallible instinct..mostly swim in veins, as they are called; continuing
their way along a given ocean-line with..undeviating exactitude.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Vein, the clear water between the openings of floes of ice.
The same as ice-lane.
1950 Sci. Monthly Apr. 247/1 A. D. Bache supposed that the cold veins were a result of the bottom
configuration which diverted the Gulf Stream in separate bands.
d. More fully fluid vein. A narrow jet of liquid, esp. one flowing through
a small orifice. Now chiefly historical.
1732 B. Robinson Treat. Animal Oecon. i. 13 In observing the Motion of Water flowing through a Hole made
in the Side of a Vessel, we may perceive the Vein not to fill the Hole.
1817 Ann. Philos. 10 31 The experiments of M. Hachette may be divided into three parts. The object of the
first is to measure the contraction of the fluid vein proceeding from a narrow aperture.
1873 Brit. & Foreign Medico-chirurg. Rev. 52 16 But the moment that the thread was tightened..he [sc.
Chauveau] instantly found that in the axis of the artery a ‘fluid vein’ was established, the vibrations of
which he could plainly feel.
1917 J. E. Boyd Mech. Fluids 38 There is a contracted vein, such as occurs when a liquid jet flows from an
orifice in a thin plate.
1941 Brit. Heart Jrnl. 3 2 It thus appears that he recognized the thrill and also seems to have realized the
mechanism (fluid vein) of a cardiac murmur.
2001 Hist. Stud. Physical & Biol. Sci. 31 295 Mariotte's expression of the impact force of a fluid vein by the
weight of a fluid cylinder with the vein's section and a length equal to the height equivalent to the fluid
velocity.
e. Nautical. A current of wind or air; the path which this follows. Now
rare.
1764 Public Advertiser 1 May The Plassey..escaped by being at Fort St. David's which the Vein of Wind did
not reach.
1792 J. Belknap Hist. New-Hampsh. III. 24 The next day a whirlwind began..and directed its course toward
the east, in a vein of near half a mile wide.
1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) xv. §677 Lieutenant Jansen has called my attention to a vein
of wind which forms a current in the air as remarkable as that of the Gulf Stream is in the sea.
2011 National (Abu Dhabi) (Nexis) 20 Dec. This time though our vein of wind held just long enough.
2.
a. Geology and Mining. A deposit of a metallic ore, crystalline mineral, or
other distinct material filling an extended continuous crack or fissure in a

rock formation; the crack or fissure itself; a lode. Less usually: a coal seam;
1
cf. seam n. 5.
coal vein, fault-vein, gold-vein, pipe vein, etc.: see the first element.
▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 15 [Þe water þat] renneþ and
passeþ by veynes of certayn metal [L. cum per certa quaedam metalla transcurrit] takiþ in his cours
grete hete.
c1450 J. Metham Days Moon (Garrett) in Wks. (1916) 149 The fourthe day ys gode..to seke spryngys for
wellys off water, to seke also veynys off metel.
a1475 (▸a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien (1887) 10 8 (MED) This Ile..is
plentevouse of veynes of metallis.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 698/2 Al this yerth, so farre as this vayne goth, savoureth of brimstone.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 247 Jn Clidisdale war funde in Craufurd mure vndir the
erd sum vanes ful of golde.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 136 The inward parts abound with a rich vaine of Mettals, where wonderfull
quantitie of most pure Tinne is digged up.
1670 J. Pettus Fodinæ Regales 2 When the Miners by these Shafts or Adits do strike or threed a Vein of any
Metal..then the Metal which is digged from those Veins is called Oar.
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 2 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) There is an Out-burst or
an appearance above Ground, of some Vein of Coal.
1793 Earl of Dundonald Descr. Estate Culross 15 At that time the vein of Roch Salt in Cheshire had not
been discovered.
1830 W. T. Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 3) I. 360 Metals are chiefly found in the earth in veins which traverse
the granitic, schistose, and limestone rocks.
1841 Trans. Geol. Soc. 6 215 The miners in Dean Forest apply the term vein to a stratum of coal, while this
term in the north of England is applied to mineral veins only.
1881 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 40 551 Minerals from the Veins of Copper-ore near Copiapo, in Chili.
1944 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 100 251 A mineral vein may carry several ore-shoots, separated by barren stretches.
1945 J. Hersey Private John Daniel Ramey in Life Sketches (1991) 101 He built a concrete reservoir..around
a spring trickling from a vein of coal on the hill above the house.
2015 New Yorker 20 Apr. 56/1 Gold-bearing quartz veins..were first exposed by Pleistocene glaciation.
†b. An ore (cf. mine n. 2a). Obsolete.
1601 P. Holland in tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxxiv. xviii. 518 (heading) Of the veine of Lead called
Molybdæna or Galena.
1732 tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chymistry II. 161 The Plumbago is only the vein of lead.
1776 R. E. Raspe tr. J. J. Ferber Trav. Italy v. 47 There is scarce any ore or vein to be found in these hills.
3. A strip or limited stretch of ground or soil, esp. one having a particular
quality, character, etc. Now chiefly U.S. and rare.
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. ii. 119 The whole contrie (excepte a litle vaine of
sandie grauelle) is fertile.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 20v Each soile hath no liking, of euerie
graine, nor barlie and wheat, is for euerie vaine.
1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. G2 I saw in diuers places very fat and fruitfull veines of ground, as goodly
meadowes, very spatious champaigne fieldes, [etc.].
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. ii. ii. 19 Some Earths are much better than others in
every Climate, nay even sometimes in a small Compass of Ground, vulgarly term'd Veins of Earth.
1794 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. 66 The vein of poor gravelly soil, which runs..over Horningsham,
Deverill, and Warminster commons, is peculiarly adapted to lime.
1833 J. Gorton Topogr. Dict. II. at Montgomery The course of the Severn, through the south-eastern angle
of the county, is marked by a vein of fertile and highly-cultivated land.
1956 R. Holmes & P. Bailey Fabulous Farmer 81 His reasoning told him these weeds rooted from a vein of
rich soil.
1996 Daily Herald (Chicago) 24 Aug. v. 3/2 Before the library can build, a vein of poor soil will have to be
removed.
II. A blood vessel, and related senses.
4.
a. Any of the relatively thin-walled blood vessels through which blood
returns to the heart from the tissues. Frequently with distinguishing word,
typically indicating the location of the vein. Also more generally: any blood
vessel (including arteries, capillaries, etc.).
auricular vein, axillary vein, basilic vein, cardiac vein, etc.: see the first element.
α.
a1325 (▸c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1650 (MED) A man naþ bote þreo manere blod,
þat on is..Bytwene fflesch and ffel, and þat oþer in þe veynes a-boute; Þe þridde is þe pur heorte blod.
▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 59 For betynge of veynes [L.
pulsus venarum] is bettre i-knowe in þe vttre parties of bodies þan ynward and in þe myddel wiþynne.
c1400 (▸?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 2410 Þere was..many veyn laten blood!
a1450 (▸?a1390) J. Mirk Festial Suppl. (Claud.) (1905) 291 Þe prest blessuth a ring..and duth hit on hur
fyngur þat haþe a veyne to hure herte.
a1500 (▸1422) J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 229 Tho men whych haue the neke abowte and
the temples, grete ruddy weynes, bene wrothy and hugely angry.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. UUUiv For the whiche his senewes and vaynes brast.
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 359 This oyll anoynted upon the pulsing veynes,
where they appeare moste, as of the temples,..delivereth..from all poysons.

1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. iii. 15 I haue a faint cold feare thrills through my veines .
1631 R. Bolton Instr. Right Comf. Affl. Consciences 194 When a veine is broken, and bleeds inward,..the
physition is wont to open a veine in the arme, so to divert the current of the blood.
a1674 T. Traherne Poems (1966) 376 Veins, wherein Blood floweth, Refreshing all my flesh, Like Rivers.
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. vi. 82 Being drawn off, like the blood let out of the veins.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 388 With us and quadrupedes the blood goes from the veins to the heart.
1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 21 The superficial veins appear remarkably large.
1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lvi. 197 Demosthenes now felt the poison in his veins.
1841 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom xi. 177 All these veins terminate in two large venous canals.
1962 I. Asimov Chemicals of Life (ed. 2) v. 68 The ‘deoxygenated’ blood then flows back to the heart through
the veins.
2012 Daily Tel. 9 May 2/5 Test on clot-prone, or thrombotic, mice found the compound prevented clots in
arteries and veins.
β.
▸ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. lxiv.
423 Lepra ‘meselrye’ is an vniuersal corrupcioun of membres and of humours, and begynnynge hath of
þe vaines.
a1425 (▸a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 1908 And ilka vayne of þe mans body Had a
rote festend fast þarby.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. xix. sig. h2 Alle in lyke wyse as the blood of a man gooth and
renneth by the vaynes of the body.
a1500 (▸1422) J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 240 (MED) The blode rynnyth Into the waynys,
throgh al the body.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxiiiv Some men vse to let them blode vnder the eye in a vayne.
c1540 (▸?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 90v The gret vayne of his gorge.
1582 J. Hester tr. L. Fioravanti Compend. Rationall Secretes i. xxiv. 28 When the bloud is alterated of that
putrefaction, it goeth to the vaines.
1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 168 Seas of Blood..Might still haue kept the Chanells of the Vaynes.
1647 H. Hexham Copious Eng. & Netherduytch Dict. Great Vaines or Arteres, groot Aderen.
1773 M. O. Warren Adulateur i. i. 6 E'en the old man Whose blood has long creep'd sluggish thro' his vains,
Now feels his warmth renew'd.
1858 W. Carleton Alley Sheridan 141 I love them as I do the blood in my own vains.
γ.
?c1450 in F. J. Furnivall & P. Furnivall Anat. Bodie of Man (1888) App. ix. 229 Thy ryght hande has I. wane,
in fay, Thy litill fynger hath yt aye.
1487 (▸a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vii. 173 Quhen the vanys fillit ar, The body vorthis
hevy euirmar.
▸ ?a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Passioun in Poems (1998) I. 35 Blude birst out at everie vane.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) 32 Ane hairt of ȝoris bayth vane and nervis.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 95 A vane..cuttit in his body, al the blude of his body is
lattne outbleid at the samyn.
1655 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Ferney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 557 I had only a vomitt..and
breathed a vane.
1780 T. Holcroft Alwyn I. xii. 146 She is a good, hearty woman, about my own age, with a dale of rich thick
blood in her vanes.
1841 T. Hall Life, Adventures, & Opinions Liverpool Policeman I. lxxv. 627 Why didn't you bring yourself a
cup, take mine, whilst I drink out of the kettle, sooner than disgrace the high blood that meanders
through my vanes.
b. In full lacteal vein, †lacteous vein. Any of the lymphatic vessels
through which chyle is conveyed from the intestines into the blood; spec. a
lacteal (see lacteal n. 1). Also called milky vein. Now historical and rare.
1653 tr. J. Pecquet New Anat. Exper. i. 4 I, by the leave of so great men, would say that not any of them by a
particular inquest have searched the Lurkings of these Lacteal Veins within the Thorax [L. Lactearum,
intra Thoracem, Venarum latebras].
1673 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 8 6061 It hath been long in my thoughts and desires to have discovered the
Actual passage of the Chyle in the Lacteous Veins.
1701 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 3) i. 29 The Food..is further subtiliz'd and render'd so fluid and penetrant,
that the thinner and finer part of it easily finds its way in at the streight Orifices of the lacteous Veins.
1758 J. Mackenzie Hist. Health ii. i. 337 The lacteal veins pour their chyle into a sort of cistern or reservoir
formed for that purpose between the lowest part of the diaphragm and the highest vertebre of the loins.
1800 J. Watkins Universal Biogr. Dict. at Pecquet (John) He immortalized his name by the discovery of the
lacteal vein which conveys the chyle to the heart, and from him termed the reservoir of Pecquet.
1916 V. Maar in Thomae Bartholini Vasa Lymphatica 38/2 (note) As his predecessors in demonstrating the
existence of the lacteal veins Thomas Bartholinus mentions Vesling, Folio, Gassendi, and Highmore.
1985 Jrnl. Hist. Biol. 18 351 (note) Harvey appealed again to the rapid evacuation of a large quantity of
ingested fluid through the ureters, this time to refute the view that chyle was conveyed by the ‘lacteal
veins’.
5. Botany.
a. In the stem or root of a plant: any of the vessels or strands of
conducting tissue (xylem and phloem), through which water and nutrients
are distributed to all parts of the plant. Now rare.
▸ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. i.
884 Some [trees] haueþ weyes and veynes in þe whiche kynde moysture is ykepte and passeþ þerby for
[read fro] þe erþe into alle þe partyes aboute.
c1405 (▸c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 3 Whan that
Aueryll..hath..bathed euery veyne in swich lycour Of which vertu engendred is the flour.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid xii. Prol. 255 Welcum support of euery rute and vane, Welcum confort of
alkynd fruyt and grane.
1672 M. Lister Let. 30 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1973) IX. 349 Where ye juice of these Veines springs
sloly & is hardly discernable, but by ye discolouring it receives from ye Aire; as in ye roots of Cicuta etc.
1738 W. Ellis Timber-tree Improved I. v. 57 An Ash has the biggest Veins of any Tree, and a Heart and Sap
Part like an Oak.
1863 Horticulturalist Jan. 26/2 You then could perceive the arteries and veins in red streaks on the wood as
clearly as you could see the veins and arteries in a man's arm by tying a ligature thereon.
1990 J. Greenall tr. M. J. Sevilla Life & Food Basque Country 98 In winter, when the vinestock rests and
has no sap in its veins, pruning is one of the most time-consuming tasks.
b. Originally: the midrib of a leaf. In later use more generally: any of the
strands of conducting tissue that form the framework of a leaf, petal, or
other leaf-like structure. Also called nerve, nervure.
Sometimes restricted to the midrib and its branches, in contrast with two or more parallel nerves
issuing from the base of the leaf.
?c1450 in Anglia (1896) 18 325 (MED) Þe lef is..Dep grene..In myddys of þe lef a veyne whyth.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. vii. 76 The herb sweit, Of levis rank,..With sproutis, sprangis, and vanis
our allquhair.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Djv These [leaves] are somewhat grosser & fatter, with
small vaynes running betwene on the contrarye side.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 101 The leaves..having many veines.
1672 M. Lister Let. 30 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1973) IX. 348 If a Fibre be carfully taken out of ye leafe,
ye Veines will appeare, like small pillars running up those great ones in ye bodies of our Minsters.
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Leaves They..consist of a very glutinous Matter, being furnished every
where with Veins and Nerves.
1812 S. Edwards New Bot. Garden I. 42 The leaves,..with a network of veins underneath.
1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. 88 Till within a few years the distribution of veins in the leaf had not received
much attention.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1206/2 Costal or primary veins are such as spring from the
midrib; external veins are those next the edge.
1880 C. E. Bessey Bot. 145 The disposition of the veins in a leaf depends largely upon its mode of growth.
Usually several veins form early.
1947 D. H. Robinson Leguminous Forage Plants (ed. 2) ii. 26 The mid-rib of this leaf is distinct, but the
other veins cannot be easily seen from the upper surface.
1990 Plants & Gardens Autumn 5/4 Veins in the petals show up strongly and are especially attractive.
2006 Gardens Monthly Apr. 30/2 Its wonderful, silver, heart-shaped leaves with green veins and leaf margin
are the main feature.
6.
a. In stone or rock: an irregular stripe or streak of a different colour,
texture, or composition; esp. a marking of a distinct colour in marble,

agate, etc.
▸ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi.
xxxiv. 843 Dionisius is a blak stoon or broune yspronge with reede veynes.
a1400 in G. R. Keiser Middle Eng. ‘Bk. Stones’ (1984) 19 (MED) Suche accates..han goldene veynes.
a1500 in A. Zettersten Middle Eng. Lapidary (1968) 27 (MED) The Achates..There ben fyve..that haue white
veynes, and they..haue..sondry vaynis that nature hathe put in hem.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xiv. 189 The red veins in the marble may seem to blush at the falshoods
written on it.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 28 The Mason must work no Stone with Sandy veines.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 40/1 The Absistos is..marvellous weighty and black of colour, bestroked
with red Veins.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 414. ¶2 Those accidental Landskips of Trees, Clouds and Cities, that are
sometimes found in the Veins of Marble.
1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. ii. 170 The waxen Vein of Dr. Grew, a Stone..is compos'd of Two
distinct Bodies, one, and the far greater Part, of an Ash-colour, in Substance not unlike Lime-stone: The
other runs through it in Veins or Plates of the Colour of Yellow Wax.
1814 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 104 410 The grooves vary their direction, and are arranged in all possible
forms like the veins of agate.
1937 R. Byron Road to Oxiana (1992) 187 Isolated ornaments have also been discovered in a jet-black
marble without vein or blemish.
2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 8/2 Alectorius, magical stone, normally crystal-clear, but sometimes with pink,
flesh-like veins through it.
b. In wrought metal: an elongated structure of distinct appearance or
nature. Cf. fibre n. 4c. Now rare.
1715 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture I. vi. 6 It will be a sign of its Goodness, if being made
into Bars, its veins [It. vene] are continu'd strait..; because the straightness of its veins shews the Iron to
be without knots.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 7 Wrought iron may be hardened..by ignition and plunging in water,
but the effect is confined to the surface; except..the iron contain veins of steel.
2005 Crystal Res. & Technol. 40 905 The cementite veins run closer up to the edge of the blade thus
providing good cutting properties.
c. In or on other substances: an irregular linear marking or structure
resembling a vein in appearance.
1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory iii. 85 When [the paint is] dry, you may with the Point of a Needle open fine
Veins or other Embellishments.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics x. 85 The spectrum formed by a fine prism of flint glass, free of veins.
1861 B. Silliman Princ. Physics 378 The beautiful play of colors seen upon mother of pearl is caused by the
delicate veins with which the surface is covered.
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding xviii. 384 Angle-irons have to be free from veins and cracked holes, and rivet-
iron has to be free from cracks and veins when laid up and finished.
1925 Mycologia 17 21 Sub-cultures of this mold were made from the potato-agar plates that were inoculated
from the blue veins of the cheese.
1987 E. Joyce & A. Peters Encycl. Furnit. Making (rev. ed.) i. 23/2 Pitch veins, pitch pockets, etc.
Sometimes known as resin pockets, they can appear [in wood] either as thin veins or shallow cavities
filled with resin.
2010 Independent 26 Nov. 29/1 Made from unpasteurised milk in Lincolnshire, Cote Hill Blue is a butter-
rich cheese with the texture of Camembert but enlivened with little blue veins.
†7. Any of various tubular or cord-like structures or narrow passages
within the body, esp. a ureter; (also) a fibre or fibrous strand, esp. in
blood. Obsolete.
▸ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxi.
208 Of þese veynes comen a fleumatik moisture þat hatte spotil, and so phisicians clepiþ ham þe veyne
[read veynes] of spotil and þe hous of spotile.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 172 (MED) Vryn..from þe reyne..goiþ to þe necke of þe
bladdre þoruȝ a veyne þat is clepid kylym.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 66 (MED) The vessellis of sperme beþ some
veynes þe whiche springen nygh þe reynes and þe veyne kelys.
?a1450 tr. Macer Herbal (Stockh.) (1949) 124 (MED) If þe veyne þat þe voys comeþ out by be sharp or
har..be singing, or be drinke..ley þis medycyne þer-to, and it wole make þe veyne softe and lyþe.
a1500 Treat. Hunting (Cambr. Ll.1.18) (1987) 54 (MED) And by be [read þe] sengle he [sc. hart] shall
hongen by on of hys veanx [in] þe tayle..when he es vndo.
1525 Anothomia in tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Handy Warke Surg. sig. B.iv/1 All these with
the veyne Trachea make a hepe fylled with pannycles and stronge bondys.
1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. xxxviii. sig. I.1v/1 Ther is
nothynge that hurtyth the brayne and the vaynes of herynge so sore as wyne dothe.
1569 J. van der Noot Gouernance & Preseruation them that feare Plage sig. C Also you shall holde open the
vaines of vrine with drinkes or opening medecines.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 125 His [sc. a hart] blood is not like other beastes, for it hath no
Fibres or small veines in it, and therefore it is hardly congealed.
1663 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xix. 51/2 They [sc. the Ureters] have a double
Membrane: The one common from the Peritonæum for strength sake, the other proper, like the inner
substance of the Bladder,..white (whence some and Celsus among the rest call them the white Veins).
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xvii. 424/1 The Urin Tunells, the Veins of the Bladder, the white Veins.
Called also Ureters.
†8. Scottish. A narrow stripe of a different colour or material on a
garment. Cf. vein v. 1a. Obsolete.
1539 in T. Thomson Coll. Inventories Royal Wardrobe (1815) 34 Ane coit of fresit claith of silvir vanit with
ane small inset vane of gold.
1542 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1908) VIII. 74 To jeit the cote witht thre vanis aboute the taill.
1568 Edinb. Test. I. f. 212v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Van(e xx dosane of plane quhite glufis for men price
of the pece xviij s...of almit ledder to be vanes estimat to thre li.
9. Entomology. Any of the sclerotized tubular structures forming the
framework of an insect's wing, which typically contain haemolymph and

sometimes include respiratory and neural elements. Also called nerve,
nervure.
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 964 The
third hath four white wings; the outer wings overcast with little blew veins here and there plentifully.
1686 Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 845 The Membranous Wings in every particular like those of the
Blew Fly, with hairs on the veins, or quilly Parts.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 69 Neuroptera. Those which have membranaceous wings, with nerves and
veins disposed in a reticulated form in them.
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xxiii. 347 French naturalists use this term (nervure) for the
veins of wings.
1834 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier Animal Kingdom (abridged ed.) 326 The wings..are traversed in various
directions by more or less numerous nervures,..now forming a net-work, and then simple veins.
1855 W. S. Dallas in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature II. 336 Each wing is found to consist of a double
membrane, between which a variable number of veins, or nervures, ramify in different directions.
1984 R. M. Pyle Audubon Soc. Handbk. for Butterfly Watchers vii. 78 Monarchs have black veins on orange
background, tortoiseshells black splotches.
2007 E. G. Schwiebert Nymphs II. 551 Erythemis simplicicollis..dark veins in a slender church-window
pattern at the leading edge of both sets of wings.
III. Figurative and metaphorical uses.
10. General figurative uses of the commoner literal senses.
Frequently as part of an extended metaphor; in some instances partaking of the later more established figurative senses listed elsewhere in
this branch.
Also in various fixed expressions: see Phrases.
a. With reference or allusion to veins which carry blood through the body
(cf. sense 4).
▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job iv. 12 To me is seid a woord hid, and as theefli
myn ere toc the veynes [L. venas] of his gruching.
c1450 (▸?a1370) Wynnere & Wastoure (1990) l. 479 (MED) Doo hym drynke..ken hym to þe crete to
comfort his vaynes.
c1530 Bible (Tyndale) Jonah Prol. A ij The fleshly minded ypocrites stoppe upp the Vaynes of life which are
in ye scripture.
1606 Bp. J. King Serm. Sept. 47 By all princely meanes to put bloud into the veines of the Church againe.
1651 in M. Sellers Eastland Co. (Camden) Introd. 75 In equity and reason the benefitt of trade should be
equally disposed into all the vaines of the Commonwealth.
1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 73 It is a true Sign, that our foreign Traffick has since convey'd Spirits and
Nourishment into each Vein of the Body Politick.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. iii. 37/1 Here, too, as in the Euphrates and the Ganges, is a Vein or
Veinlet of the grand World-circulation of Waters.
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 303 Great poets..crowding the happy veins of language again with all the
life..that had been dribbling away.
1866 B. Taylor Poet's Jrnl. 58 As ardent veins of summer heat Throb thro' the innocence of spring.
1923 Foreign Affairs 1 106 A stream of young blood flows uninterruptedly from the open veins of Italy and
spreads itself over the world.
1996 T. N. Murari Steps from Paradise 427 The thin veins of Georgetown were even more clogged with
hand carts, bullock carts, cars, bicycles, rickshaws, vendors.
†b. With reference or allusion to veins as channels for water (cf. sense 1a).
Obsolete.
▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Prov. x. 11 Þe veyne of lijf [is] þe mouþ of þe riȝtwis.
▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xvii. 13 For thei forsoken the veyne [L. venam] of
lyuyng watris [a1425 L.V. the Lord, a veyne of quyk watirs].
▸ c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 18 (MED) Vanite is moder of alle
yvelles, welle of alle vicis and the veyne [c1450 Longleat weyne] of wikkidnes.
c1475 (▸a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1911) i. 311 O welle of swetnesse replete in euery veyne! That all
mankynde preseruyd hast from dethe.
1534 J. Fewterer tr. U. Pinder Myrrour Christes Passion f. cxxxv What drynke..dyd he desyre, whiche is the
founten of the lyuely and holsome water, the veyne of lyfe, the ryuer of all pleasure.
1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull i. f. xiii He that preacheth must lette hys veyne of sapience flow and
runne among his audience.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge Prol. sig. A2 The rawish danke of clumzie winter ramps The fluent
summers vaine.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Jer. xvii. 13 They have forsaken the vaine of living waters.
1641 J. Gauden Love of Truth 7 Then doth the ray or veyn of truth flow aright from God to us.
1710 Ld. Shaftesbury Soliloquy 81 A..flowing Vein of Humour.
1796 A. Thomson Paradise of Taste iii. 38 And taught him there, with Freedom's flowing vein, To pour
translucent forth his comic strain.
1829 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 473/2 The veins of sorrow deep, Winding through the world of sleep.
1901 Independent (N.Y.) 6 June 1289/1 All about me there were invisible trickling veins of suggestion,
currents of influence and effluence.
c. With reference or allusion to veins as deposits or seams of a mineral or
other substance (cf. sense 2).
1533 tr. Erasmus Enchiridion Militis Christiani iii. sig. C.viiv Dygge her [sc. this wysdom] out of the veynes of
holy scripture, as it were treasure hyd in the erthe.
1563 R. Reynolds Foundacion of Rhetorike To Rdr. sig. a.iiiv To enstructe the studentes [of Greek]..with all
facilitee to grounde in them, a moste plentious and riche vein of eloquence.
1568 H. Billingsley tr. P. M. Vermigli Most Learned Comm. Epist. Romanes Ep. Ded. A.vv Those
vnmeasurable riches which still lye hidden..in the hidden vaines of the holy booke, may with great study
be digged out.
1616 C. Richardson Workeman 61 Those are richest, whose veine is hidden deepe, and will euery day more
fully satisfie him that diggeth: so there are many excellent things hid, as it were in the bowels of the holy
Scriptures.
1656 A. Cowley Misc. 7 in Poems Like those that work in Mines for others gain. He..had much more to do,
To search the Vein, dig, purge, and mint it too.
1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 389 A vein of Superstition ran thro all his Actions.
1782 W. Hayley Ess. Epic Poetry ii. 27 Thou vast, prolific, intellectual Mine, Where veins of ancient and of
modern gold, The wealth of each poetic world, have roll'd!
1845 N. P. Willis Dashes at Life with Free Pencil 214 Your genius would discover..where, in the well-
searched bowels of literature, lay an unworked vein of ore.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. ix. 171 These are telling indications of an original relationship
among all the groups of languages mentioned: outcroppings, as it were, of a vein which invites further
exploration.
1906 Current Lit. June 674/2 The author..has again struck a popular vein in her latest novel, but there seems
to be a general feeling that she has failed to ‘work’ it as it deserves.
1961 J. Cobb & R. Osegueda tr. J. J. Arévalo Shark & Sardines x. 146 A rich psychological vein to be mined
was discovered in the ‘danger of war’ and has been exploited..for fifteen years.
2008 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 Sept. a21/5 Using ‘data mining’, they seek out veins of useful ore in the mountains of
facts that computers accumulate every day.
11.
a. A particular, individual, or characteristic style of language or
expression.
Sometimes with modifying word.
In quot. 1538 used of a particular passage of text.
1522 in tr. W. Lily Tryumphe Charles sig. a.iiv His fresshe verses to translate In to our tonge, out of their
ornate vayne Of pure latyn.
1538 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Sarcerius Common Places of Script. xv. f. xlixv But who euer durst call these
thynges indifferent that knewe any good veyne of scripture.
1548 N. Udall in N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke: Pref. f. vi Euery man hath a veine
of his owne, eyther by imitation so confirmed, or by long vse so rooted, or of desyre to be playne and
clere, so growen into an habite: that [etc.].
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew i. sig. C4v What say, Sir, to our Poet Scribble here? Spr. I like his vain exceeding
well.
1657 T. Pierce Divine Philanthropie i. 33 In his second Dedicatory Epistle.., he begins with a specimen of his
Calumniating Veine.
1751 W. Warburton in Wks. of Alexander Pope IV. 7 He would be ready to execrate even his own best vein of
poetry.
1754 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison VII. lvi. 272 She was not at all diverted with those lively
parts of Lady G's decision, that I ventured to read; tho' she is an admirer of her sprightly vein.
1826 W. Scott Provinc. Antiq. Scotl. II. 119 After adorning it with an inscription, somewhat in the vein of
Ancient Pistol.
1865 C. Kingsley Hereward xii, in Good Words Jan. 263/1 Hereward answered, in his boasting vein, that he
would bring home that mare.
1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens IV. xx. i. 61 Writing a letter in his smoothest vein to Wolsey.
1902 G. Sampson Newman's Sel. Ess. Introd. p. xxxvi They [sc. these words] are not in Blougram's vein.
1916 C. S. Churchill Let. 6 Apr. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) viii. 197
I cannot bear that you should write to him in that vein.
1951 H. Brickell in O. Henry Prize Stories of 1951 Introd. p. x This story seems to be in Miss Welty's best
vein, which is, of course, very good indeed.
2001 16th Cent. Jrnl. 32 102 The passage comes close to ‘romantic comedy’ in Shakespeare's vein.
2005 Journal (Newcastle) (Nexis) 6 Aug. 10 ‘Do you have to wear that straw hat? It looks so silly!’ she
continued in the same unforgiving vein.
b. A line or course of thought, reasoning, discourse, etc. Usually with of.
1545 J. Bale Mysterye Inyquyte P. Pantolabus f. 2v Rather shuld he haue begonne at the deuyll which first
begate darkenesse, and so haue gone forth from darkenesse to ignoraunce... Or els from Anticrist to
auarice from auarice to symonye, & from symonye to heresye in that veyne.
1633 G. Herbert Bunch of Grapes in Temple i One vogue and vein, One aire of thought usurps my brain.
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub ii. 62 I have..collected out of antient Authors, this short Summary of a Body of
Philosophy and Divinity, which seems to have been composed by a Vein and Race of Thinking, very
different from any other Systems.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 169. ⁋12 Delay opens new veins of thought.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 217 In the midst of a vein of thought or a moment of inspiration.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues I. 474 He professes to open a new vein of discourse.
1909 H. G. Wells Ann Veronica ix. 280 A man..started a vein of speculation upon the Scotchman's idea—
that there were still hopes of women evolving into something higher.
1961 Midwest Folklore 11 15 As one vein of inquiry proved fruitful, the results were passed on to the others.
2009 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 8 June A common vein of argument has been criticism of the police's handling of
the case.
c. More generally: a particular style, manner of proceeding, or distinctive
quality in any sphere of activity.
1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah x. 116 When he had [printed dad] proceeded long, and gone
forward in this veine, a great pestilence grew in Rome.
1614 Replye answering Def. Serm. i. ii. i. 75 I purpose not to folow his veine in prosecuting, so eagerly any
personall quarrells, which bringeth little advantage to the cause.
1656 P. Heylyn Full Relation Two Journeys ii. iii. 56 Liberty..made him an Hugonot. In this vein he
continued till the year 1595.
1839 Morning Chron. 10 July To some he gave sixpences, to others threepences, and it struck the police that
if he continued in that vein for any length of time his own family would have little more than the
consolations of religion to ‘feed and clothe them’.
1872 Amer. Naturalist 6 472 If Prof. Hyatt continues to work in the same vein, the Society's ‘Catalogue’ will
compare favorably with the one just mentioned.
1933 Twenty-Thirtian Mag. May 7/3 May our District Governors of the future never fail to carry on in the
same vein!
2013 E. Griffin Liberty's Dawn iii. 81 As their employment was seasonal they continued to return to school
in the winter. They both carried on in this vein until they were fourteen.
12.
a. A particular character trait or predisposition; (also) a person's overall
character or disposition.
Quot. 1536 may instead illustrate the more general figurative sense 10a.
1536 R. Morison Lamentation Seditious Rebellyon sig. A.ii Who is he, that can thynke him selfe to haue any
veyne of an honeste man, that feareth not god?
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 31 In Socrates there was so rooted a certain veine of honest
merynes, euen naturally geuen hym in his cradle, yt he could iest and speake meryly euen at the houre of
death.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Vena To know the naturall disposition and veyne of euery man.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iv. 81 It is no shame, the fellow finds his vaine, And

yeelding to him, humors well his frensie.
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman i. 17 They have need of somewhat more than a pleasant veyne,
and..at least they have as much discretion as vertue.
a1660 in J. T. Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Ireland (1880) II. 145 The veine of those petty Bourkes..may seeme
strange to any that is both well affected and fully acquainted with them.
1773 E. Burke Corr. (1844) I. 446 There is a vein of natural good sense in him, from which a good deal might
be expected.
1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 59 So provoking a Devil was Dick, That we wish'd him full ten times a day at
Old Nick, But missing his mirth and agreeable vein, As often we wish'd to have Dick back again.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci i. ii. 10 You have a sly, equivocating vein.
1854 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 433 I am afraid I have a little of the wolf-vein in me, in spite of fifteen
centuries of civilization.
1911 ‘E. Gavf’ Comedy of Circumstance v. 70 I fear she is not the wife for a clergyman. She has a frivolous
vein—believe me.
2015 Londonderry Sentinel (Nexis) 16 Sept. Somebody of a rather humorous vein asked today if I could find
out anything unusual about her.
b. A temporary state of mind or feeling; a mood, a humour. Frequently
with in, esp. in in the vein: in a fit or suitable mood for something;
inclined to do what is specified or implied by the context; (also)
performing at one's best, ‘on form’.
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. H.ijv Beyng in the vayne of hope, he was not content to feede his eyes
with the sight of his Lady.
1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 37 I am hardly drawn to a merie vaine from
such waightie matters.
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) 1053 If any matter of God happen to come in while they are in the vaine, it is
like a damp which puts out their lights, and turnes their mirth into heauinesse.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus ii. iv. 699 Ile take the Gentleman now, he is in a good vayne, for he
smiles.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Lovers Progres i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647)
sig. Iii4v/1 Fetch her, While I am in the vaine.
a1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Art of Love (1709) i. 44 Now she's in the Vein, and fit for Sport.
1723 A. Pope Corr. Aug. (1956) II. 185 The merry vein you knew me in, is sunk into a Turn of Reflexion.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 204 Harry was in no manner of vein..for entertaining.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. iv. 69 If thou art in a classical vein, put myrtle about his curls and make him a
young Bacchus.
1879 G. Meredith Egoist xxxiv I like to hear them when I am in the vein.
1922 Boston Post 6 Mar. 5/8 Mr. Hofmann was in the vein, and he showed it, by playing encores of
Gargantuan proportions.
1942 North Adams (Mass.) Transcript 9 Mar. 10/1 He can make a prosaic theme likable when he is in the
vein.
1963 K. Amis Let. 2 Apr. (2000) 623 When we called on Graves later that day I was in talkative vein and
bawled ‘piss’ and other unspeakables at a young British poet.
2012 G. Buslik Akhmed & Atomic Matzo Balls xiii. 255 Les was in a giving vein.
†c. An inclination or desire for a specified thing; a tendency. Obsolete.
1585 C. Fetherston tr. J. Calvin Comm. Actes Apostles xxi. 504 They boast that they do this to win the
weake brethren, or that they follow their veine thus farre, as if Paul did yeeld to them in all things
without choise.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 43 Adrian the Emperour, that mortally Enuied Poets, and Painters, and
Artificers, in Works, wherein he had a veine to excell.
1680 W. Temple Ess. Advancem. Trade Ireland in Wks. (1720) I. 109 I suppose the Vein I have had of
running into Speculations of this kind..have cost me this present Service.
†d. A fit of laughter. Obsolete. rare.
1736 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. VII. 98 He burst into a loud vein of laughter [Fr. se prenant à rire avec de
grands éclats].
1856 Belfast News-let. 14 Mar. (advt.) The many acts of folly committed by Mr. Briggs, in his extraordinary
whim of trying to become a Sporting Character, keep the audience in one continuous vein of laughter.
†13.
a. The general character or tenor of something. Obsolete.
1543 J. Bale Yet Course at Romyshe Foxe Concl. sig. M.viij The ernest veyne in the scripturs ageynst thys
wycked generacyon.
a1555 R. Taylor in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 171 I doe beleue that the Religion set forth in
Kyng Edwardes dayes, was accordyng to the veyne of the holy Scripture.
1615 F. Bacon Let. 25 Feb. in Resuscitatio (1657) ii. 72 Trading, in Companies, is most agreeable to the
English Nature, which wanteth that same general Vein, of a Republick, which runneth in the Dutch.
1695 G. Bright Faith by which we are Justified i. 11 Observe the vein of Scripture.
1790 G. Laughton Serm. Doctr. & Duties Christianity iv. 85 It will be sufficient to instance his [sc.
Mahomet's] doctrine of rewards, to shew the general vein of his religion.
b. A type, a variety. Obsolete. rare.
1568 Let. 21 Oct. in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) lii. 525 These young men, which are of a lower
Vein,..be not men perfect, as they seem.
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie iii. sig. Ccc6v Other Commodities of this Island are..Honey as good as any the
world affordeth; and a vain of most delicious wines.
†14. A type of activity or behaviour; a practice, a habit. Obsolete.
1549 J. Bale in J. Leland Laboryouse Journey Concl. sig. E.vij The Hebrues, Grekes, and Romanes were
neuer so towarde in thys noble veyne of workynge.
1577 N. Breton Floorish vpon Fancie sig. H.i For who continues in this vayne, Of setting [i.e. gambling]
still,..in the ende he shall be fayne, To leaue it will or nill.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 124 The composers of that age..followed only that vaine of
wresting in much matter in small boundes.
1615 G. Helwys Lieutenant of Tower his Speech & Repentance sig. C2 I was much addicted to that idle veyne
of Gaming.
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) v. 1895 Thus he runs on his course, til 's drunken vaine Ruines his
substance.
a1745 J. Swift in Wks. (1762) XIII. 46 Hence it is become an impertinent vein among people of all sorts to
hunt after what they call a good sermon.
1843 Age 11 June 5/2 The regenerated people of Spain..are not in the vein of forgetting certain scenes
enacted at Zaragoza and elsewhere.
1855 Ballou's Pict. Drawing-Room Compan. 25 Aug. 125/3 We will not venture to say how many
daguerreotypists there are in Boston, for we are not in the vein of hunting up statistics.
†15. A special aptitude or capacity for, or innate tendency towards, the
production of literary or artistic work; (more generally) a particular talent

or flair. Obsolete.
1568 T. Howell Arbor of Amitie sig. A.iiijv If I had Tullies tongue,..If Chaucers vaine, if Homers skill..Yet
tongue, nor wyt nor vaine..Can well descrie your due desarte, in praise perpetuall.
1570 T. Wilson in tr. Demosthenes 3 Orations Pref. sig. *.iv Demosthenes chiefe desire was, to haue
Thucidides veyne and gift of writyng in all thinges.
1580 G. Harvey Three Proper Lett. in E. Spenser Poet. Wks. (1912) 628 They sauour of that singular
extraordinarie veine and inuention, whiche I euer fancied moste.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 72 All the fabulous veine, and learning of Greece, proceeded out of
this quarter.
1616 B. Jonson Cynthias Revels (rev. ed.) iii. i, in Wks. I. 208 Aso. How if they would haue me to make
verses?..Amo. Why, you must prooue the aptitude of your Genius; if you find none, you must harken out
a veine, and buy.
1656 J. Bramhall Replic. to Bishop of Chalcedon ii. 78 I doe not take my self to have so happy a vein, that all
that I utter should be a definition.
1697 J. Evelyn Numismata viii. 286 Vittoria Colonna,..whose extraordinary Vein in Poetry was equal with
Petrarchs.
1729 T. Cooke Tales 63 Indulge, my Friend, thy modest Vein;..Prospects, gay smiling, aid the Strain.
1762 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. III. xix. 29 The fertility of Shakespear's vein betrays him frequently [etc.].
1837 J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott I. iv. 122 His boyish addiction to verse, and the rebuke which his vein
received from the Apothecary's..wife.
1883 G. M. Hopkins Let. 4 Jan. (1955) 170 A pupil of mine was to write some English verses for me, to be
recited: he had a real vein.
1895 Iowa Postal Card 10 Oct. He is a humorist with a vein for telling things so they either strike at the roots
of humor or mine down into the well of tears.
†16. A channel or route by means of which something may be sought; a
source of information. Obsolete.
1838 Times 2 Aug. 4/2 The number for the present month..has several articles of more general concern,
which point to veins of information and amusement well worth pursuing.
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 32 The many gentlemen who make the Science of Botany a
lifelong study, and who have so many veins of information.
Phrases
†P1. to feel (also taste) a person's (or the) vein(s): to feel the pulse.
Obsolete.
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 914 (MED) Þe ȝongeman seȝ þe childes peyne, And tasted his senewe and
his veyne.
▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 1186 This noble clerk, with alle haste Began the veines
forto taste.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 74 Þis Joseph was passand connyng in grapyng of þer vaynys at war seke,
and he come vnto hym & felid his vaynys.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 32v You..haue assayed to feele the veyne.
†P2. with every vein (in one's heart) and variants: wholeheartedly,
with every fibre of one's being. Also in similar phrases expressing the fact of
being completely overwhelmed by an emotion, mood, etc. Obsolete.
▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 3463 (MED) Mi sorwe..secheth overal my veines.
a1500 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 155 (MED) Sone god send me seche reporte þat
may comfort myn hert in every vayne.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Reddo To vexe euery vayne in ones harte.
1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande vi. f. 20/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Let him with all the vaynes of
his hart besech God.
1589 T. Cooper Admon. People of Eng. 215 There were many of them that would haue bene glad with all the
veines in their heartes.
1594 R. Lewes Serm. preached at Paules Crosse sig. C7 And withall the veines of my soule I wish, that they
that seeke reformation, would [etc.].
1611 W. Vaughan Spirit of Detraction To Rdrs. sig. A3 I wish with all the veynes of my heart, that what ability
of wel-saying and wel-doing is defectiue in mine owne person, the same..may be liberally supplied to all
others in this present booke.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 329 Now doth the Lord vex every veine in my heart to see what mettall I am made of.
a1697 A. Horneck Several Serm. 5th St. Matthew (1698) I. iv. 116 Such sorrow as will grieve all the Veins of
his Heart.
1763 Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser 14 Feb. What heav'nly pleasures glow'd in every vein!
1775 Seasonable Advice Members Brit. Parl. 9 The first article..warms me; I feel it in every vein of my heart.
1816 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 29 June 825 They hate and detest the other with every vein in their hearts.
1907 Grand Rapids (Wisconsin) Tribune 13 Mar. No sooner did Oisin set eyes on Niahm..than he loved her
with every vein of his body.
P3. to find (also strike, prick, etc.) the right vein and variants: to
find the right or most effective way to elicit the desired reaction,
communicate one's ideas, etc.
Originally with reference to bloodletting, and thus a figurative use of sense 4 (cf. sense 10a); later more
usually understood as a figurative use of sense 2 (cf. sense 10c).
[In quot. a1425 after Old French prendre quelqu'un en bone vaine (late 13th cent. in the Roman de la
Rose).]
a1425 (▸?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 3459 If he were touchid on somme good
veyne He shuld yit rewen on thi peyne.
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. Ciijv Vetus Comædia beganne to pricke him..in the right
vaine.
1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. (new ed.) sig. A2 To credite any, that tickeleth the right veine, and feedeth the
riotous humour of their licentious vanity.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra i. ix. 72 Satan..makes it his next care..to strike in the right Vein; for he loves to
have his work easie and feasible.
1725 T. Fuller Direct. Counsels & Cautions 101 With morose Persons deal freely, openly, and familiarly... So
shalt thou strike them in the right Vein, and make them more tractable.
1755 N. Hobart Congratulatory Let. 3 Mankind are easily caught..when we were well acquainted with their
weak Side, and knew how to prick them in the right Vein.
1841 N.Y. Herald 27 Mar. Thorne has struck the right vein, and since the commencement of the present season
has produced a series of dramas which have been more popular and profitable than [etc.].
1863 M. J. Holmes Marian Grey xii. 131 Mentally chiding himself for his stupidity in not striking the right
vein, Ben continued: ‘I wonder he hain't married afore this.’
1952 Daily Plainsman (Huron, S. Dakota) 7 Sept. 1/2 He..was a polished speaker, hitting the right vein even
when he, an eastern sophisticate Princeton grad, addressed a largely rural audience.
1990 Mod. Lang. Rev. 85 923 Its pages..breathe a different air of creative conviction: as of one who had finally
found the right vein.
2001 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 30 Oct. 97 These characters and their traits are so well-defined by now..that
there's real gold to mine if the writers strike the right veins.
†P4. to die in a vein: to die through loss of blood. Obsolete.
1547 W. Baldwin Treat. Morall Phylos. i. xxix. sig. hviiv Seneca..supposyng that to dye in a vayne, was the
easyest kynde of death, desyred to be let bloode in the vaynes of his armes.
P5. to have —— (running) in one's veins: used to suggest that a
particular characteristic, attribute, or interest is ingrained in a person.

Similarly with —— in one's veins, etc. Cf. blood n. Phrases 2e.
1768 Gazetteer & New Daily Advertiser 25 Oct. Arbitrary principles, which were running through the veins of
every proper officer in the nation.
1802 Orthodox Churchman's Mag. Sept. 192 Knowing, as we do, the hereditary orthodoxy, which runs in his
veins.
1863 Punch 14 Feb. 64/2 Love of all things noble, fair, and good, Ran in his veins.
1869 Englishwoman's Domest. Mag. 1 Apr. 169/1 He becomes good by reason that he has not sufficient
Satanic fire in his veins to be anything else.
1910 Daily Chron. 4 Jan. 3/1 The true Hispanophil with the cult in his veins.
1912 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 4 Sept. 5/2 A department head or chief..with ice in his veins who will recommend the
dismissal of a man of 70 who has served the government the best portion of his life.
1941 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. Star-News 10 Aug. 16/1 He is described by his friends and associates as having
‘gasoline and motor oil in his veins’.
1999 J. Boyle Hero of Underworld 4 Muscular morons with hate in their veins who have challenged the
system with such brute force.
2013 T. Scott Ben Hogan (2015) i. 19 It was a different picture from the insensitive, uncaring man with ice in
his veins that the press had presented.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. In sense 4, as vein-pipe, veinwork, etc.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. To Rdr. sig. a6v The coole refreshing it hath from the
lungs, or the veine-pipes proceeding from the liuer.
1847 G. E. Day tr. J. Vogel Pathol. Anat. Human Body ii. 41 The blood..causes and gives origin to the
formation of dropsical fluids, by permeating the attenuated vein-walls.
1871 Brit. & Foreign Medico-chirurg. Rev. 47 350 The dark groping example of our ancestors in the matter of
vein surgery.
1890 R. Le Gallienne G. Meredith 32 The human form disappears beneath nets of veinwork and muscle.
1918 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 478/2 The recipient's arm is prepared..and a small amount of novocain injected into the
site chosen for the vein puncture.
1965 Science 17 Sept. 1376/1 Surgical procedures..consisted of routine tracheotomy, vein cannulation, and
extensive craniotomy.
1972 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 72 703/2 Too much suction may cause..vein collapse.
2007 Eve July 168/3 A laser fibre is threaded into the vein using ultrasound guidance and the vein wall is
heated to seal it off.
b. In sense 2a.

(a)
vein fissure n.
1811 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire I. 123 Such vein fissures have had a very different origin from those
of Faults.
1962 Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 342. 124/2 A drift from the crosscut follows the vein fissure for 140 feet
to the east.
2011 P. Appleton in T. D. Ford Limestones & Caves Wales (new ed.) xx. 238/2 Most of these [caverns] are
ancient phreatic openings in or adjacent to vein fissures.
vein form n.
1860 O. M. Lieber Rep. Surv. S. Carolina IV. Index 191 Vein ‘forms’.
1883 Science 9 Feb. 18/1 A vein-form similar to the terrestrial veins commonly known as filons en cocardes.
2004 J. Szczepańska & E. Twardowska in I. Twardowska et al. Solid Waste iii. vi. 333 Sulfide grains occur in
pocket or vein forms and crystal aggregates.
vein formation n.
1809 C. Anderson tr. A. G. Werner New Theory Formation Veins i. 5 By a vein formation [Ger. Gang-
Formazion], or simply a formation, is to be understood all veins formed at the same time, and having one
and the same origin.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 115 The creeks and gulches..cutting channels through this
vein-formation.
1994 Northern Miner 3 Oct. 1/1 The veins contain various banded and resilicified breccia fabrics, which
indicates a long history of vein formation.
vein gallery n. rare
1897 ‘P. Warung’ Tales Old Regime 96 The chamber..into which the vein-galleries..opened.
2003 K. Tintori Trapped (new ed.) xiii. 114 About midnight, Win Dochsteiner, whose farm sat just above a
second vein gallery one quarter mile from the shaft, was awakened by such noises.
vein matrix n.
1845 Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. 38 353 This would, however, contradict the epoch series of the vein matrices of
metalliferous-veins of the Erzgebirge.
1994 J. J. Degenhardt et al. in B. O. Dressler et al. Large Meteorite Impacts & Planetary Evol. 200/1 The
finer portion of the vein matrix comprises equigranular quartz and feldspar in granoblastic texture
indicative of recrystallization.
2010 K. R. Long et al. Principal Rare Earth Elements Deposits U.S. 32/1 Alternatively, these minerals may
replace albite and quartz in the vein matrix.
vein matter n.
1854 Mining Mag. 3 552 The vein as far as opened is two feet in width, good walls, and the vein matter well
filled with stamp work of excellent quality.
1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. viii. 94/1 The reefs in the slaty shales..owe their gold to downward
percolation rather than to the ascension of heated water carrying vein-matter in solution.
1995 Jrnl. Geochem. Explor. 54 1 The partial redeposition of ore and vein matter in the overlying rocks as a
result of the magmatic, hydrothermal, and tectonic processes.
vein mining n.
1830 C. Fisher Let. 22 Mar. in Assay Offices N. Carolina & Georgia 13 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (21st Congr.,
2nd Session: House of Representatives Rep. 82) I Cabarras county, which had hitherto only been
considered as productive in its washings, was ascertained to be a vein mining district.
1874 J. H. Collins Princ. Metal Mining (1875) viii. 47 In vein mining trial borings are not often made.
2000 F. Cardarelli Materials Handbk. iii. 198 Gold is obtained by two principal mining methods: (i) placer
and (ii) vein mining, and also (iii) as a by-product of the mining of other metals.
vein system n.
1839 J. Phillips Treat. Geol. II. viii. 140 To this vein system, Werner refers many deposits beyond the Saxon
districts, not hesitating to include the Derbyshire mines.
1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. viii. 93/2 All these processes..are going on contemporaneously in
different parts of the vein-system.
2011 P. Upton in Å. Fagereng et al. Geol. Earthquake Source 254/1 As part of this study, we examined vein
systems at a range of localities through the central mountains of Taiwan.
(b) Designating a metal, mineral, or rock occurring in a vein or veins, as
vein gold, vein granite, vein quartz, etc.
1822 Q. Jrnl. Sci. & Arts Apr. 187 We see clearly that the crystallization of the vein-granite has been influenced
by the greater or less width of the fissures.
1833 Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. 14 273 In situations where no kunkur occurs, such appearances are constantly
observed; the vein quartz projecting in long narrow tubular masses, to the height of several feet above the
surface.
1834 Rep. Select Comm. Gold & Copper Mines (Doc. No. 8) 1 in Jrnl. House Delegates Commonw. Virginia
The petitioners have, in the explorations made by them for vein gold, disbursed large sums of money.
1922 Geogr. Jrnl. 59 423 Graphitic schists have also been noted, but are rare. They are dislocated by profuse
intrusion of vein granite.
1948 Proc. Prehistoric Soc. 14 129 Brown and purple quartzite cobbles, pieces of vein quartz and of lydite.
1956 G. Taylor Silver i. 2 The bankets of Witwatersrand, in which vein-gold and alluvial deposits are mixed.
1987 U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 1711-A. a12/2 The entire area within the boundary of the Indian Pass
Wilderness Study Area is judged to have low potential..for resources of vein copper.
2006 Oceania 76 146 Females of all ages are found mining alluvial and vein gold alike.
C2.
a. Objective, as vein-healing, vein-cutting, etc.
1591 E. Spenser Muiopotmos in Complaints sig. V2 Veyne-healing Veruen, and hed-purging Dill.
1657 J. Thompson Helmont Disguised 116 The work of revulsion is primarily nothing else but a bloud-letting,
or vein-cutting.
1862 Times 23 Sept. 7/5 A great part of the interest of this book is the gallery of portraits it contains... The
Garnetts, mother and daughter..; Towers, the vein opener; [etc.].
1876 Punch 18 Mar. 99/1 Those who listen to the voice of this Syren, must prepare their palates for goblets of
the vein-tingling nectar of the Gods and Demigods.
1958 U.S. Patent 2,842,133 (heading) Surgical or medical vein dilating device.
1987 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Mar. 32/2 America's superduper-rich ice creams are a vein-clogging 18% butterfat.
2008 Spin June 72/2 The alleged penchant of emos for superficial wrist-slashing instead of the vein-slitting
that would really put their lives at risk.
b. spec. Forming adjectives denoting extreme physical effort or intensity,
as vein-bursting, vein-popping, etc.
1908 E. C. Booth Post-girl xxxvi. 387 He was making this vein-bursting struggle to come abreast with her.
1949 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 29 July 8/3 The winner gets a bottle of wine, though he or she sometimes must
perform an additional feat; blowing up a balloon bigger than some vein-popping runner-up can.
1980 J. R. Nash Murder, Amer. 68 The beefy Hessel responded with vein-popping incredulity, yelling back,
‘What!’.
1992 Independent 1 Apr. 21/2 A series of merciless, vein-bulging ‘bollockings’, as they are known.
2008 Wire Feb. 16/3 A righteous wall of vein-melting improvised freakery.
C3. Instrumental, as vein-covered, vein-streaked, etc.
1822 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 140/2 How courteously she gives into thine old bony, vein-embossed
hand, that comforting cup of warm, white frothing ale!
1859 Amer. Med. Monthly June 422 Their bowels bag down in the protruded walls of the vein-covered
abdomen.
1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping I. ix. 143 Urquhart..saw the vein-streaked hand gripping the pipe-stem
tremble.
1994 J. Updike Brazil x. 81 When he closed his eyelids, the fine vein-webbed skin just below them twitched.
2015 N. Cutter Deep 361 His eyes rolled back to their twitching, vein-threaded whites.
C4.
vein banding n. yellowing or other change in the colour of tissue
adjacent to the veins of leaves, spec. as a symptom of viral disease; disease

characterized by this symptom; frequently attributive, esp. designating
viruses which cause such disease.
1928 T. Cooper in 40th Ann. Rep. Agric. Exper. Station Univ. Kentucky, 1927 I. 16 The list of virus diseases of
tobacco includes..‘severe etch’ and ‘vein banding’, which may be a very mild strain of ‘etch’.
1932 Science 7 Oct. 310/2 G. Burnett discussed the longevity of the latent and vein-banding viruses of potato in
dried leaf tissue.
1979 Jrnl. Hort. Sci. 54 23/1 Gooseberry vein banding virus..is aphid transmitted.
2006 S. T. Koike et al. Veg. Dis. 250/1 WMV [= watermelon mosaic virus] causes leaves to develop mosaics,
vein banding, rings, light green patches, and other symptoms.
vein blood n. †(a) the action of bloodletting, phlebotomy (obsolete); (b)
blood drawn from or present in a vein (now usually with distinguishing

word naming the vein); blood present in the venous system, venous blood.
c1405 (▸c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1887 That neyther veyne blood, ne ventusyng
Ne drynke of herbes may been his helpynge.
c1450 (▸?c1425) St. Christina in Anglia (1885) 8 123 (MED) She lete her blode ful often of mykel veyne
blode.
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. b Naturall
blud is ruddye: that is to saye, veyne bludde ruddye and obscure: and arterie bludde ruddye and clere.
1694 W. Salmon tr. Y. van Diemerbroeck Anat. Human Bodies (new ed.) i. 322/2 That..is convey'd together
with the Vein-Blood to the Heart.
1877 Lancet 19 May 713/1 The irritation of a poison that is, or at all events is reasonably supposed to be,
diffused throughout the vein-blood.
2010 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107 20363/2 Blood glucose levels were assayed from tail vein blood.
vein marble n. marble marked by veins of colour.
1759 Public Advertiser 21 Apr. (advt.) Vein Marble Chimney Pieces.

1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. x. §2430 Its great strength, ten times that of vein
marble and statuary, renders it safe from breakage.
1969 Newsletter Assoc. Preserv. Technol. Aug. 18 The final appearance is thus a good imitation of true ‘vein’
marble.
2006 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 11 Feb. f3 The master bathroom has statuary vein marble
floors.
† vein riveret n. Obsolete rare a small tributary (cf. sense 1b).
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie i. sig. N5v Being circled almost round with severall Rivers, that is to say the
Oise on the North..and a vein-Riveret of the Seine towards the South.
Derivatives
ˈveinlike adj.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1633) 398 Unspotted Lillies white; which thou did'st set Hand in hand, with the veine-
like Violet.
1789 W. Meyrick New Family Herbal 49 Blossom: divided into five parts, which are..full of vein-like wrinkles.
1826 N.-Y. Mirror 11 Mar. 256/3 Come to the shore where the wet-sand shines; And the red-weed floats in
veinlike lines.
1876 C. V. Shepard Contrib. Mineral. 6 Pagodite... Found in vein-like patches..in the white limerock of
Thomastown.
1933 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 41 94 Some biotite zones are nearly veinlike in character and have irregular limits.
1965 M. H. Wolf Anything can happen in Vermont 86 Deep blue shadows in the vein-like pattern of birds'
tracks will show where the blue jays fought over corn.
2001 J. Fredston Rowing to Latitude (2002) iv. 86 Seen from a satellite photograph, it [sc. the Yukon]
appears to be a main artery fed by hundreds of veinlike tributaries.
ˈvein-wise adv. as or in the form of a vein or network of veins; (also) as
regards veins.
1674 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 9 125 In some few places the blood lay vein-wise.
1757 tr. J. F. Henckel Pyritologia 39 The pyrites lodges also in lime-stone, gypsum, alabaster, &c. Not vein-
wise, but rather nest-wise, and kidney-wise.
1895 J. E. Spurr Econ. Geol. Mercur Mining District 392 A soft, white, clayey mineral..is found quite
abundantly filling crevices vein-wise in certain parts of the Silver ledge.
1906 J. E. Spurr Ore Deposits Silver Peak Quadrangle ii. 87 The second class..has found its way into or near
the granite, vein-wise.
1997 Vogue 1 Sept. 570/2 Vein-wise, I can boast a truly unbeatable combination of attributes: fish-white skin
and fragile vessels that bruise easily.
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4/15/23, 5:15 AM vein, n.

: Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of the English

I. A tract of ground or water, a mineral deposit, etc.

water trickles or flows; a flow of water through such a channel or fissure.

†b. A narrow stream or pool of water on the earth's surface; a rivulet.

ice lane (obsolete). Now rare.

a small orifice. Now chiefly historical.

a. Geology and Mining. A deposit of a metallic ore, crystalline mineral, or

other distinct material filling an extended continuous crack or fissure in a

†b. An ore (cf. mine n. 2a). Obsolete.

quality, character, etc. Now chiefly U.S. and rare.

a. In the stem or root of a plant: any of the vessels or strands of

a. In stone or rock: an irregular stripe or streak of a different colour,

texture, or composition; esp. a marking of a distinct colour in marble,

b. In wrought metal: an elongated structure of distinct appearance or

nature. Cf. fibre n. 4c. Now rare.

c. In or on other substances: an irregular linear marking or structure

resembling a vein in appearance.

†7. Any of various tubular or cord-like structures or narrow passages

†8. Scottish. A narrow stripe of a different colour or material on a

garment. Cf. vein v. 1a. Obsolete.

9. Entomology. Any of the sclerotized tubular structures forming the

framework of an insect's wing, which typically contain haemolymph and

(cf. sense 4).

c. With reference or allusion to veins as deposits or seams of a mineral or

other substance (cf. sense 2).

a. A particular, individual, or characteristic style of language or

c. More generally: a particular style, manner of proceeding, or distinctive

quality in any sphere of activity.

a. A particular character trait or predisposition; (also) a person's overall

b. A temporary state of mind or feeling; a mood, a humour. Frequently

†c. An inclination or desire for a specified thing; a tendency. Obsolete.

†d. A fit of laughter. Obsolete. rare.

a. The general character or tenor of something. Obsolete.

b. A type, a variety. Obsolete. rare.

†14. A type of activity or behaviour; a practice, a habit. Obsolete.

†15. A special aptitude or capacity for, or innate tendency towards, the

production of literary or artistic work; (more generally) a particular talent

†16. A channel or route by means of which something may be sought; a

source of information. Obsolete.

†P4. to die in a vein: to die through loss of blood. Obsolete.

P5. to have —— (running) in one's veins: used to suggest that a

particular characteristic, attribute, or interest is ingrained in a person.

C1. General attributive.

a. In sense 4, as vein-pipe, veinwork, etc.

b. In sense 2a.

vein gallery n. rare

(b) Designating a metal, mineral, or rock occurring in a vein or veins, as

vein gold, vein granite, vein quartz, etc.

a. Objective, as vein-healing, vein-cutting, etc.

b. spec. Forming adjectives denoting extreme physical effort or intensity,

as vein-bursting, vein-popping, etc.

C3. Instrumental, as vein-covered, vein-streaked, etc.

vein banding n. yellowing or other change in the colour of tissue

adjacent to the veins of leaves, spec. as a symptom of viral disease; disease

vein blood n. †(a) the action of bloodletting, phlebotomy (obsolete); (b)

blood drawn from or present in a vein (now usually with distinguishing

vein marble n. marble marked by veins of colour.

1759 Public Advertiser 21 Apr. (advt.) Vein Marble Chimney Pieces.

† vein riveret n. Obsolete rare a small tributary (cf. sense 1b).

ˈvein-wise adv. as or in the form of a vein or network of veins; (also) as

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