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gin¹

(jĭn)

A strong colorless alcoholic beverage made by distilling or redistilling rye or other grain spirits and adding juniper berries and sometimes other flavorings such as anise, caraway seeds, or angelica root.

[Alteration of geneva, from Dutch jenever, from Middle Dutch geniver, juniper, from Old French geneivre, from Vulgar Latin *iiniperus, from Latin iūniperus.]

ginny adj.

gin²

(jĭn)

1. Any of several machines or devices, especially:

a. A machine for hoisting or moving heavy objects.

b. A pile driver.

c. A snare or trap for game.

d. A pump operated by a windmill.

2. A cotton gin.

tr.v. ginned, gin·ning, gins

1. To remove the seeds from (cotton) with a cotton gin.

2. To trap in a gin.

Phrasal Verb:

gin up

1. To create or produce; work up: "If we ever ginned up the courage to speak honestly about race, we might also open up unexpected avenues of racial healing" (Michael Eric Dyson).

2. To create or produce under false pretenses: "U.S. officials have asked their foreign counterparts to gin up a charge so that the United States can credibly claim it is rendering a suspect to face legal charges when it is really trying to gather information" (Daniel Byman).

3. To increase or make more active: gin up sales; gin up the economy.

[Middle English, from Old French, short for engin, skill; see ENGINE.]

gin³

(jĭn)

Gin rummy.

interj.

Used to announce that one has won a game of gin rummy.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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