gein

See also: Gein and géin

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Geïn, coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1832, from Ancient Greek γήινος (gḗinos, “of earth”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”).

Noun

gein (uncountable)

1. (organic chemistry, biochemistry, dated) Humic acid.
   • 1843 January 9, Henry Bidleman Bascom, “Glance at the Natural History and Philosophy of Agriculture […]”, in Thomas N. Ralston, editor, Posthumous Works of the Rev. Henry B. Bascom, […], volume 2, published 1856, page 201:

     Hence, a most interesting conclusion—without salts and gein we have no vegetable production. The gein in solution is essential to fruit, and yet, without the salts, the insolubility of gein would leave the soil barren.

   • 1893, John Nisbet, Soil and Situation in Relation to Forest Growth, page 10:

     The humic acid and other similar acids (ulmic, geïn, &c.) have a very strong affinity for ammonia, which itself is essential to the nourishment of forest growth, as plants have only a limited power of assimilating the free nitrogen of the air.

   • 1907, Philip R. Björling, Frederick T. Gissing, Peat: Its Use and Manufacture, page 6:

     Thus with a free supply of air the residue is mainly humin; with less air it is ulmin; and when air is excluded it is gein.

Anagrams

• Gien, NigE, Nige

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish חן (kheyn, “grace, charm”), from Hebrew חֵן.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣɛi̯n/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gein
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯n
• Homophone: gijn

Noun

gein m (uncountable, diminutive geintje n)

1. (Netherlands, informal) fun, pleasure, joke

Derived terms

• geinig
• geinponem
• ongein

Anagrams

• enig, neig

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡei̯n/, [ˈɡe̞i̯n]
• Rhymes: -ein
• Syllabification^(key): gein

Noun

gein

1. instructive plural of gee

Anagrams

• Inge

Icelandic

Verb

gein

1. first-person singular past indicative of gína
2. third-person singular past indicative of gína

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

gein

1. Alternative form of gayn (“direct, fast, good, helpful”)

Etymology 2

Noun

gein

1. Alternative form of gayn (“gain, reward, advantage”)

Etymology 3

Preposition

gein

1. Alternative form of gain (“against”)

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *genan, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʲenʲ/

Noun

gein n (genitive gene, nominative plural gene)

1. verbal noun of gainithir
2. birth
3. (Christianity) the Nativity
4. someone who was born

Inflection

Neuter n-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	geinN	geinN	geinenL
Vocative	geinN	geinN	geinenL
Accusative	geinN	geinN	geinenL
Genitive	geine	geinenN	geinenN
Dative	geinimL	geinenaib	geinenaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• aithgin
• Fíngin

  Irish: Fínín

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
gein	gein pronounced with /ɣ(ʲ)-/	ngein
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “gein”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Norse

Verb

gein

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

Volapük

Noun

gein (nominative plural geins)

1. gin

Declension

declension of gein

	singular	plural
nominative	gein	geins
genitive	geina	geinas
dative	geine	geines
accusative	geini	geinis
vocative 1	o gein!	o geins!
predicative 2	geinu	geinus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only