windas

English

Noun

windas

1. plural of winda

Anagrams

• diwans

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch windas, ultimately from Old Norse.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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Noun

windas f (plural windassen, diminutive windasje n)

1. windlass

Middle English

Noun

windas

1. windlass
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Squire's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 183-185:

     Ther may no man out of the place it dryve
     For noon engyn of windas or polyve;
     And cause why, for they can nat the craft.

     No man there can drive it out of the place
     Despite any contrivance of windlass or pulley;
     And the reason why? Because they do not know the craft.

References

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

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse [Term?].

Noun

windas oblique singular, m (oblique plural windas, nominative singular windas, nominative plural windas)

1. winch

Descendants

• → English: windlass

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (guindas)
• gindas on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub (also listed under vindass)