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skein

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 13 December 2025

Pronunciation

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Skeins (etymology 1, noun etymology 1 sense 1) of yarn.
A skein (etymology 1, noun etymology 1 sense 2.2) of geese.

Etymology 1

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The noun is derived from Middle English skaine, skayne (“quantity of string, thread, etc., wound on a reel; the string, thread, etc., so wound”),[1] from Old French escaigne (modern French écagne, écaigne (Picardy)); further etymology uncertain,[2] probably from Proto-Celtic, from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to split off”).

The verb is derived from noun.[3]

cognates

Noun

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skein (plural skeins)

  2. A quantity of thread, yarn, etc., wound on a reel then removed and loosely knotted into an oblong shape; a skein of cotton is formed by eighty turns of thread around a reel with a fifty-four inch diameter.
    Coordinate terms: ball, cake, hank
    • c. 1517 (date written; published c. 1545), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth the Booke Called Elynour Rummynge. The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng per Skelton Laureat.”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 105, lines 309–311:
      Some for very nede / Layde downe a skeyne of threde, / And some a skeyne of yarne; […]
    • 1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 393, lines 798–800:
      Reche me that skane of tewly sylk; / And, Wynde me that botowme of such an hew, / Grene, rede, tawny, whyte, blak, purpill, and blew.
    • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 224, column 1:
      Brau'd in mine ovvne houſe vvith a skeine of thred: / Avvay thou Ragge, thou quantitie, thou remnant, / Or I ſhall ſo be-mete thee vvith thy yard, / As thou ſhalt thinke on prating vvhil'ſt thou liu'ſt: […]
    • c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
      No vvhy art thou then exaſperate, thou idle immaterial skiene of ſleiue ſilke, thou greene ſacenet flap for a ſore eye, thou toſſell of a Prodigals purſe—thou […]
      No, why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleeve silk, thou greene sarsenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a prodigal's purse—thou […]
    • 1633 (first performance), W[illiam] Davenant, Love and Honour, […], London: […] Hum[phrey] Robinson […], and Hum[phrey] Moseley […], published 1649, →OCLC, Act I, page 10, column 2:
      VVhat is ſhe heire to? a braſſe thimble, and / A skeane of brovvn thread?
    • 1704, [Daniel Defoe], Giving Alms No Charity, and Employing the Poor a Grievance to the Nation, […], London: Printed, and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, →OCLC, page 16:
      Suppoſe novv a VVork-houſe for Employment of Poor Children, ſets them to ſpinning of VVorſted.—For every Skein of VVorſted theſe Poor Children Spin, there muſt be a Skein the leſs Spun by ſome poor Family or Perſon that ſpun it before; […] 'tis only the tranſpoſing the Manufacture from Colcheſter to London, and taking the Bread out of the Mouths of the Poor of Eſſex to put it into the Mouths of the Poor of Middleſex.
    • 1798, John Ebers, “Knouel”, in The New and Complete Dictionary of the German and English Languages […], volume II (H–R of the German Alphabet Explained in English), Leipzig, Saxony: […] Brietkopf and Haertel, →OCLC, page 360, column 1:
      Knouel, der, oder Kna̔uel, a Bottom or Clevv of Thread or of Yarn, a Hank, a Skain of Yarn or Thread.
    • 1807, G[eorge] Gregory, “ROPE-MAKING”, in A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. […], volume II, London: […] [T. Gillet] for Richard Phillips, […], →OCLC, pages 602–603:
      The aim of the rope-maker is to unite the strings of a great number of fibres. […] This is done by twisting or twining them together, which causes them to compress each other. […] Consequently, if we pull at this twisted skain, we shall not separate it by drawing one parcel out from among the rest, but the whole fibres will break; and if the distribution of the fibres has been very equable, the skain will be nearly of the same strength in every part.
    • 1816, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in The Antiquary. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 4:
      [A] sharp-looking old dame, […] inhabited a "laigh [low] shop," anglicé [in English], a cellar, opening to the High-street by a strait and steep stair, at the bottom of which she sold tape, thread, needles, skeans of worsted, coarse linen cloth, and such feminine gear, to those who had the courage and skill to descend to the profundity of her dwelling, without falling headlong themselves, or throwing down any of the numerous articles which, piled on each side of the descent, indicated the profession of the trader below.
    • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter I, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 12:
      “How horribly unjust of you!” cried Lord Henry, tilting his hat back and looking up at the little clouds that, like ravelled skeins of glossy white silk, were drifting across the hollowed turquoise of the summer sky.
    • 1915, Virginia Woolf, chapter XV, in The Voyage Out, London: Duckworth & Co., […], →OCLC, page 245:
      The embroidery, which was a matter for thought, the design being difficult and the colours wanting consideration, brought lapses into the dialogue when she seemed to be engrossed in her skeins of silk, or, with head a little drawn back and eyes narrowed, considered the effect of the whole.
    • 1920 October, Agatha Christie, “Fresh Suspicions”, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles […], New York, N.Y.; London: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1927, page 180:
      "He did have a beard, sir," replied Dorcas, smiling. "And well I know it, for he borrowed two skeins of my black wool to make it with! And I’m sure it looked wonderfully natural at a distance. […]"
    • 1931 August 19 (date written), W[illiam] B[utler] Yeats, “Words for Music Perhaps. IV. Crazy Jane and Jack the Journeyman.”, in The Winding Stair and Other Poems, London: Macmillan and Co., […], published December 1933, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 66:
      The more I leave the door unlatched / The sooner love is gone, / For love is but a skein unwound / Between the dark and dawn.
      A figurative use.
    • 1938 March, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “Part I”, in Murder in the Cathedral, London: Faber and Faber […], →OCLC, page 26:
      You hold the skein: wind, Thomas, wind / The thread of eternal life and death. / You hold this power, hold it.
      A figurative use.
  3. (by extension) A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1 sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
    1. (ichthyology) The membrane of a fish ovary.
    3. (UK, dialectal, ornithology, collective) A group of wildfowl (for example, geese or swans) in flight.
      Coordinate terms: gaggle, wedge
      • 2018, Laurence Rose, “France”, in The Long Spring: Tracking the Arrival of Spring through Europe, London: Bloomsbury Wildlife, →ISBN, page 111:
        High above the swallows and 2 miles or so out into the Channel was a skein of geese, probably brent geese on the first day of their emigration from the estuaries of the Channel coast towards the high Arctic tundra of Spitsbergen or Russia.
      • [2019 June 6, “Newsround: A Gaggle, a Confusion and a Conspiracy – Bizarre Animal Collective Group Names”, in CBBC, BBC‎[1], archived from the original on 14 August 2025:
        A group of geese is called a gaggle. […] They're only referred to as a gaggle when they're on land. When they're flying in formation they can be referred to as a skein.]
    4. (obsolete, biochemistry, cytology, also attributive) Synonym of spireme (“the tangled mass of strands of chromatin seen in the early stages of mitosis, originally believed to be a single continuous strand (or two in a diploid cell, etc.)”).
  4. (figurative)
    1. A tangle, a weave, a web.
    2. (sports) A winning streak.
    3. (US, radio, television, dated) A series created by a web (“major broadcasting network”).
      • 1950 March 4, “Three Tele Nets All-out to Grab Frigidaire Show”, in Roger S. Littleford Jr., editor, The Billboard: The World’s Foremost Amusement Weekly, volume 62, number 9, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford, →OCLC, page 5, column 3:
        All three tele skeins are pitching furiously to snag the super Easter Day tele show to be bankrolled by Frigidaire, but no decision has been reached at press time. […] Bankroller will buy time on the skein delivering the largest number of live coaxial outlets, but none of the webs are as yet able to make definite commitments.
      • 1963, Radio Television Daily, volume 93, New York, N.Y.: Scheuer Publications, →OCLC, page 5, column 4:
        Three comedy shows from the U.S. are in the CTV lineup: CBS-TV's Phil Silvers and Danny Thomas skeins and NBC-TV's "Harry's Girls."
Alternative forms
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  • skain (obsolete, 16th–18th c.)
  • skean (obsolete, 19th c.)
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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skein (third-person singular simple present skeins, present participle skeining, simple past and past participle skeined) (transitive)

  1. To weave or wind (thread, yarn, etc.) into a skein (noun etymology 1 sense 1).
    • 1891, Mark Wilks Collet, reporter, “Stephenson v. Cooper, Collector”, in The Federal Reporter […] (National Reporter System, United States Series), volume 44, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., →OCLC, headnote, page 53:
      Under section 7 of Act March 3, 1883, referring to section 2907, Rev. St., if skeining worsted or mohair yarns is necessary to render them merchantable yarns, the cost of skeining is a part of the value of the goods, and subject to duty. If skeining is necessary only for convenience in transportation from the producer to the consumer, it is a charge for putting up, preparing, and packing for shipment, and the extra cost of skeining is not to be added to the other costs in computing the duty.
  2. (figurative) To intertwine or weave (something) with another thing.
    • 1955, Elizabeth Bowen, chapter XI, in A World of Love, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, part I, pages 219–220:
      Water skeined the landscape. The Shannon River, lost since Limerick city, was drawing nearer to name the airport, and a tributary quickened its way towards it.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Dutch scheen (“strip of metal or wood; (anatomy) shin”),[4] from Middle Dutch schene, from Old Dutch *skina, from Proto-West Germanic *skinu (“bar; track; (anatomy) shin; spine”), from Proto-Germanic *skinō (“piece; plate; rim; (anatomy) shinbone”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect; to split”). Doublet of shin.

Noun

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skein (plural skeins)

  1. A thin strip of an osier (“long, pliable twig from a plant, usually a willow”) used in basketmaking.
    • 1836, Luke Hebert, “BASKET”, in The Engineer’s and Mechanic’s Encyclopædia, Comprehending Practical Illustrations of the Machinery and Processes Employed in Every Description of Manufacture of the British Empire. […], volume I, London: Thomas Kelly, […], →OCLC, pages 153–154:
      [F]or the finer work, as table-mats, fruit and work-baskets, and the like, the osiers are divided into four parts, lengthways, which are called splits, and these are afterwards reduced to various degrees of fineness, when they are called skeins.
  2. (US, road transport, dated) A metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle of a wagon.
    • 1862, Thomas Hughes, “The Struggle for Kansas. The Substance of Two Lectures Delivered at the Working Men’s College, Great Ormond Street.”, in J[ohn] M[alcolm Forbes] Ludlow, A Sketch of the History of the United States from Independence to Secession. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 345:
      On November 21, Dow, one of the free-state settlers went to the blacksmith's shop unarmed, carrying a waggon skein to be repaired. While he was at the shop, Coleman and Buckley of Missouri, and another pro-slavery man came up, all armed, and an angry discussion followed.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “skaine, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “skein, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025; “skein, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “skein, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025.
  4. ^ “skein, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Faroese

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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skein f (genitive singular skeinar, plural skeinir)

  1. (kvæði) scratch, small wound

Declension

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f2 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative skein skeinin skeinir skeinirnar
accusative skein skeinina skeinir skeinirnar
dative skein skeinini skeinum skeinunum
genitive skeinar skeinarinnar skeina skeinanna
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Verb

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skein

  1. shone, singular past of skína (to shine)

Icelandic

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Verb

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skein

  1. first-person singular past active indicative of skína
  2. third-person singular past active indicative of skína
  3. second-person singular active imperative of skeina

Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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skein

  1. simple past of skinne

Anagrams

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Verb

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skein

  1. past of skina

Old Norse

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Verb

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skein

  1. first/third-person singular past active indicative of skína
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