wain noun¹ & verb. [weɪn]
[Old English wæġ(e)n, wǣn = Old Frisian wein, Old Low Frankish reidi-wagan, Middle & mod. Low German, Dutch wagen, Old High German wagan (German Wagen), Old Norse vagn cart, barrow, from Germanic from Indo-European base repr. also by WAY noun, WEIGH verb.]
A. noun.
1. = WAGON noun 1. Now arch. & poet. OE.
■ W. Cowper From the sun-burnt hay-field, homeward creeps The loaded wain.
b. A chariot. Chiefly poet. ME.

2. (Wain.) The Plough (PLOUGH noun 4). OE.
Lesser Wain the group of seven principal stars in Ursa Minor which resembles that of the Plough.

Comb.:
wainman (obsolete exc. Hist.) = wainer; wainwright a wagon-builder.
B. verb trans. Carry or transport (as) in a wain. ME-E19.

■ wainer noun (rare) the driver of a wain, a wagoner ME.

■ wainful noun (rare) as much as a wain will hold E18.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲