Also Tsin. any of three dynasties that ruled in China, a.d. 265–316 (the Western Chin), a.d. 317–420 (the Eastern Chin), and a.d. 936–46 (the Later Chin).
a dynasty that ruled in China 1115–1234.
gin
6
or jin
[jin]
nounAustralianInformal.
a female Aborigine.
an Aboriginal wife.
Origin of gin
6
First recorded in 1820–30,gin is from the Dharuk word di-yin
Old English cin, cinn "chin" (but in some compounds suggesting an older, broader sense of "jawbone"); a general Germanic word (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German kinni; Old Norse kinn; German Kinn "chin;" Gothic kinnus "cheek"), from PIE root *genu- "chin, jawbone" (cf. Sanskrit hanuh, Avestan zanu- "chin;" Armenian cnawt "jawbone, cheek;" Lithuanian žándas "jawbone;" Greek genus "lower jaw," geneion "chin;" Old Irish gin "mouth," Welsh gen "jawbone, chin").
gin
v.1
in slang phrase gin up "enliven, make more exciting," 1887, probably from earlier ginger up in same sense (1849), from ginger in sense of "spice, pizzazz;" specifically in reference to the treatment described in the 1811 slang dictionary under the entry for feague:
... to put ginger up a horse's fundament, and formerly, as it is said, a live eel, to make him lively and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse-dealer's servant, who shall shew a horse without first feaguing him. Feague is used, figuratively, for encouraging or spiriting one up.
gin
v.2
"to begin," c.1200, ginnen, shortened form of beginnen (see begin).
chin
v.
1590s, "to press (affectionately) chin to chin," from chin (n.). Meaning "to bring to the chin" (of a fiddle) is from 1869. Slang meaning "talk, gossip" is from 1883, American English. Related: Chinned; chinning. Athletic sense of "raise one's chin over" (a raised bar, for exercise) is from 1880s.
gin
n.1
"type of distilled drinking alcohol," 1714, shortening of geneva, altered (by influence of the similarity of the name of the Swiss city, with which it has no other connection) from Dutch genever "juniper" (because the alcohol was flavored with its berries), from Old French genevre, from Vulgar Latin *jeniperus, from Latin juniperus "juniper" (see juniper). Gin and tonic attested by 1873; gin-sling by 1790. Card game gin rummy first attested 1941 (described in "Life" that year as the latest Hollywood fad).
gin
n.2
"machine for separating cotton from seeds," 1796, American English, used earlier of various other machineries, from Middle English gin "ingenious device, contrivance" (c.1200), from Old French gin "machine, device, scheme," shortened form of engin, from Latin ingenium (see engine). The verb in this sense is recorded from 1789.
