wheen

English

Alternative forms

• whean, whin

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English *wheen, quhein (also hwan, hwon, quhon), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English hwēne, hwǣne (“somewhat, a little”), instrumental form of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English hwōn (“little, few, a little, trifle, somewhat, a little while”).

Noun

wheen (plural wheens)

1. (UK dialectal) A little; a small number.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland, Northern Ireland) A quantity; a goodly number.
   • 1815, Walter Scott, Guy Mannering:

     I have six terriers at hame, forbye twa couple of slow-hunds, five grews, and a wheen other dogs.

References

• “wheen”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.