*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of vein

Etymology tree Latin vēna Old French veinebor. Middle English veine English vein From Middle English veine, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
noun

A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart. · The entrails of a shrimp. · In leaves, a thickened portion of the leaf containing the vascular bundle. · The nervure of an insect’s wing.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Latin vēna Old French veinebor. Middle English veine English vein From Middle English veine, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna for more. Doublet of vena. Displaced native edre, from ǣdre (whence edder).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionveineenm
  • Derivation mentionvēnala
  • Doublet mentionvenaen

This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "enm:veine",
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    },
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      "args": {
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        "3": "vēna",
        "4": "",
        "5": "a blood-vessel; vein; artery"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”)"
    },
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      "name": "doublet",
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        "2": "vena"
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      "expansion": "Doublet of vena"
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    }
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  "links": [
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    ],
    [
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    ],
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      "veine#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "veine",
      "veine#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "veine",
      "veine#Old_French"
    ],
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      "vena#Latin"
    ],
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      "vēna",
      "vena#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "vena",
      "vena#English"
    ],
    [
      "edre",
      "edre#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "ǣdre",
      "ædre#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "edder",
      "edder#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
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      "lang_code": "pon",
      "word": "pein",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
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    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart.",
        "The entrails of a shrimp.",
        "In leaves, a thickened portion of the leaf containing the vascular bundle.",
        "The nervure of an insect’s wing."
      ],
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}

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To mark with veins or a vein-like pattern.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Latin vēna Old French veinebor. Middle English veine English vein From Middle English veine, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna for more. Doublet of vena. Displaced native edre, from ǣdre (whence edder).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionveineenm
  • Derivation mentionvēnala
  • Doublet mentionvenaen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "ety",
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        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:veine",
        "tree": "1"
      },
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    },
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      },
      "expansion": "Middle English veine"
    },
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        "3": "veine"
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      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman veine"
    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
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        "4": "",
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      },
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    },
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      "name": "doublet",
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      },
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for vein →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-dmVpbg