Forms: α. 3–7 veyne (4–5 weyne, 6 ueyne), 4, 7 veyn; 4–7 veine (4 vene), 7– vein. β. 4–7 vayne (5 wayne), 5 vayn (wayn), 6–7 vain(e. γ 5, 6–7 Sc., vane (5, 6 Sc., wane). [a. OF. veine, vaine (F. veine):—L. vēna (cf. VENE), whence also Prov., Sp., It. vena, Pg. veia († veya, vea).]
I. 1. One or other of the tubular vessels in which the blood is conveyed through the animal body; in later use spec. one of those by which the blood is carried back to the heart from the extremities (opposed to artery).
Many veins are distinguished by special epithets, as alar, auricular, axillary, basilic, cardiac, etc.: see these words.
α. 13[?]. K. Alis., 1175 (Laud MS.). Þe kynges veynes wexen chelde. Ibid., 2414. Þer was … many veyn leten blood.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 59. For betynge of veynes is bettre i-knowe in þe vttre parties of bodies þan ynward and in þe myddel wiþynne.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 229. Tho men whych haue the neke abowte and the temples, grete ruddy weynes, bene wrothy and hugely angry.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 291. Þe prest blessuth a ring … and duth hit on hur fyngur þat haþe a veyne to hure herte.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 254. For ye whiche his senewes and veynes brast.
1559. Morwyng, Evonym., 359. This oyll anoynted upon the pulsing veynes, where they appeare moste, as of the temples,… delivereth … from all poysons.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., IV. iii. 15. I haue a faint cold feare thrills through my veines.
1631. R. Bolton, Comf. Affl. Consc. (1635), 199. When a veine is broken and bleeds inwardly,… the Physition is wont to open a veine in the arme so to divert the current of the blood.
c. 1673. Traherne, Poet. Wks. (1906), 180. Veins wherein blood floweth, Refreshing all my flesh, Like rivers.
1727. De Foe, Eng. Tradesm., vi. (1841), I. 44. Being drawn off, like the blood let out of the veins.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VI. 388. With us and quadrupedes the blood goes from the veins to the heart.
1804. Abernethy, Surg. Obs., 21. The superficial veins appear remarkably large.
1840. Thirlwall, Greece, lvi. VII. 197. Demosthenes now felt the poison in his veins.
1871. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 227. All these veins terminate in two large venous canals.
β. c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1903. [If] ilka vayne of þe mans body Had a rote festend fast þarby.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5829. The gret vayne of his gorge.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 240. The blode rynnyth into the waynys throgh al the body.
1480. Caxton, Myrr., II. xix. (1913), 109. Alle in lyke wyse as the blood of a man gooth and renneth by the vaynes of the body.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 50. Some men vse to let them bloudde vnder the eye in a vaine.
1582. Hester, Secr. Phiorav., I. xxiv. 28. When the bloud is alterated of that putrefaction, it goeth to the vaines.
1603. J. Davies (Heref.), Microcosmos, Wks. (Grosart), I. 67/1. Seas of Blood … Might still haue kept the Chanells of the Vaynes.
1647. Hexham, I. A Vaine, een Ader.… Great Vaines or Arteres, Groot Aderen.
γ. c. 1450. in Vicary’s Anat. (1888), App. ix. 229. Thy ryght hande has I. wane, in fay, Thy litill fynger hath yt aye.
1487. Barbour’s Bruce, VII. 173. Quhen the vanys fillit ar, The body vorthis hevy euirmar.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxii. 35. Blude birst out at every vane.
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.), ix. 34. Ane hairt of ȝouris bayth vane and nervis.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., II. 95. A vane … cuttit in his body, al the blude of his body is lattne outbleid at the samyn.
1655. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 557. I had only a vomitt … and breathed a vane.
† b. Lacteal, lacteous, or milky veins, = LACTEAL sb. 1. Obs.
1656. J. Smith, Pract. Physick, 4. Obstruction of the Vessels, especially of the Pancreas, and fault of the milky veins.
1664. Power, Exp. Philos., I. 66. The stomach and guts, and their appendent Vessels, the lacteal Veins.
1704. Ray, Creation (ed. 4), I. 29. The Food … is further subtiliz’d and render’d so fluid and penetrant, that the thinner and finer part of it easily finds its way in at the streight Orifices of the lacteous Veins.
c. Fluid vein, a separate flow of blood in a larger vein. (Cf. 6 c.)
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., IV. 659. The formation of innumerable small fluid veins. Ibid. (1898), V. 502. This change in the continents sets up fluid veins in the contained blood.
2. In phrases and figurative uses:
† a. To taste, or feel, one’s vein(s, to feel the pulse. To die in a vein, to die through loss of blood. Obs.
13[?]. Seuyn Sages (W.), 1048. The yonge man segh the childes peyne, And tasted his senewe, and his veyne.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 315. This noble clerk with alle haste Began the veines forto taste.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 74. Þis Joseph was passand connyng in grapyng of þer vaynys at war seke, and he come unto hym & felid his vaynys.
1547–64. Bauldwin, Mor. Philos. (Palfr.), 35. Seneca … supposing that to dye in a veyne was the easiest kinde of death, desired to be let bloud in the veynes of his arme.
b. In various fig. uses.
1382. Wyclif, Job iv. 12. To me is seid a woord hid, and as theefli myn ere toc the veynes [L. venas] of his gruching.
c. 1530. Tindale, Prophete Jonas, Prol. A ij. The fleshly minded ypocrites stoppe upp the Vaynes of life which are in ye scripture.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. (1882), 24. Now the cloth being thus stretched forth in euery vaine, how is it possible either to endure or hold out?
1606. J. King, Serm., Sept., 47. By all princely meanes to put bloud into the veines of the Church againe.
1651. in M. Sellers, Eastland Co. (Camden), Introd. 75. In equity and reason the benefit of trade should be equally disposed into all the vaines of the Commonwealth.
1719. W. Wood, Surv. Trade, 73. It is a true Sign, that our foreign Traffick has since convey’d Spirits and Nourishment into each Vein of the Body Politick.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., II. iii. Here, too, as in the Euphrates and the Ganges, is a vein or veinlet of the grand World-circulation of Waters.
1864. Lowell, Fireside Trav., 303. Great poets … crowding the happy veins of language again with all the life … that had been dribbling away.
1866. B. Taylor, Poet’s Jrnl., 58. As ardent veins of summer heat Throb thro’ the innocence of spring.
c. In miscellaneous fig. phrases.
(a) c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 3459. If he were touchid on somme good veyne, He shuld yit rewen on thi peyne.
1589. Pasquil’s Ret., C iij b. Vetus Comædia beganne to pricke him … in the right vaine.
1677. Gilpin, Demonol. (1867), 59. Satan … makes it his next care … to strike in the right vein; for he loves to have his work easy and feasible.
(b.) 1587. Stanyhurst, Descr. Ireland, 34/2, in Holinshed. Let him with all the veines of his heart beseech God.
1589. Cooper, Admon., 215. There were many of them that would haue bene glad with all the veines in their heartes.
1589. R. Harvey, Pl. Perc. (1590), 10. I see the vaine is vp in the forhead, and Martin shall haue as good as he brings.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacræ, III. iv. § 6. A kinde of a breaking of vein in which the salt water was conveyed up and down the body of the earth.
3. † a. A sap-vessel in plants. Obs.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 3. Whan that Aprille … hath … bathud every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertue engendred is the flour.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. i. (Bodl. MS.). Þei [trees] haue weyes and veynes in þe whiche kinde moisture is ikepte and passeþ þerbi fro þe erþe into alle þe parties abowte.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, XII. Prol. 255. Welcum support of euery rute and vane, Welcum confort of alkynd fruyt and grane.
b. Bot. A slender bundle of fibrovascular tissue forming an extension of the petiole in the parenchyma of a leaf.
In early use less specific in sense. Some botanists have restricted vein to branches of the midrib, in contrast to nerves proceeding from the base of the leaf.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, XII. vii. 76. The herb sweit, Of levis rank,… With sproutis, sprangis, and vanis our allquhair.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 18. These [leaves] are somewhat grosser and fatter, with small vaynes running betwene on the contrarye side.
1731. P. Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Leaves, They … consist of a very glutinous Matter, being furnished everywhere with Veins and Nerves.
1793. Martyn, Lang. Bot., s.v. Venosum, When it has no veins,… it is called Folium Avenium, a veinless leaf.
1812. New Botanic Gard., I. 42. The leaves,… with a network of veins underneath.
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 88. Till within a few years the distribution of veins in the leaf had not received much attention.
1866. Treas. Bot., 1206/2. Costal or primary veins are such as spring from the midrib; external veins are those next the edge.
1880. Bessey, Bot., 145. The disposition of the veins in a leaf depends largely upon its mode of growth. Usually several veins form early.
c. Ent. A nervure of an insect’s wing.
1817. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., xxiii. II. 347. French naturalists use this term (nervure) for the veins of wings.
1834. McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 326. The wings … are traversed in various directions by more or less numerous nervures,… now forming a net-work, and then simple veins.
1855. Orr’s Circle Sci., Org. Nat., II. 336. Each wing is found to consist of a double membrane, between which a variable number of veins, or nervures, ramify in different directions.
† 4. Sc. A slender stripe of a different color or material on a garment. (Cf. VEIN v. 1 a.) Obs.
1539. Inv. R. Wardr. (1815), 34. Ane coit of fresit claith of silvir vanit with ane small inset vane of gold.
1542. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., VIII. 74. To jeit the cote with thre vanis aboute the taill.
5. A marking or an appearance suggestive of a vein; esp. an irregular stripe or streak of a different color in marble or other stone.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., III. xiv. 189. The red veins in the marble may seem to blush at the falshoods written on it.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 40/1. The Absistos is … marvellous weighty and black of colour, bestroked with red Veins.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 414, ¶ 2. Those accidental Landskips of Trees, Clouds and Cities, that are sometimes found in the Veins of Marble.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, I. 178. When [the paint is] dry, you may with the point of a needle open fine veins or other embellishments.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. vii. 54. The blue veins of the glacier are beautifully shown.
1861. B. Silliman, Physics, 378. The beautiful play of colors seen upon mother of pearl is caused by the delicate veins with which the surface is covered.
b. A streak or seam of a different material or texture from the main substance.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 28. The Mason must work no Stone with Sandy veines.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 7. Wrought iron may be hardened … by ignition and plunging in water, but the effect is confined to the surface; except … the iron contain veins of steel.
1831. Brewster, Optics, x. 85. The spectrum formed by a fine prism of flint glass, free of veins.
1869. Sir E. Reed, Ship-build., xviii. 384. Angle-irons have to be free from veins and cracked holes, and rivet-iron has to be free from cracks and veins when laid up and finished.
c. A fiber (in metal). rare–1.
1715. Leoni, Palladio’s Archit. (1742), I. 4. It will be a sign of its Goodness, if being made into Bars, its veins are continu’d strait…; because the streightness of its veins shews the Iron to be without knots.
II. 6. A small natural channel or perforation within the earth through which water trickles or flows; a flow of water through such a channel.
Also transf. (quot. 1598).
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 318/639. Wellene comiez of grete wateres and muche del of þe se þoruȝ veynes al vnder eorþe:… For þare beoz ase it veynene weren onder eorþe mani on.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 662. In þe veines of þe water, as þe water deþ vp walle He let closy fur in metal.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 93. For riht as veines ben of blod In man, riht so the water flod Therthe of his cours makth ful of veines.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 382/2. Lete us al praye unto our lord that he opene to us … here the vaynes of a fontayn or of a welle.
1594. Kyd, Cornelia, II. 370. Perceiue we not a petty vaine, Cut from a spring by chance or arte, Engendreth fountaines.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. Handycrafts, 492. A burning Mountain from his fiery vain An yron River rowls along the Plain.
1601. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 12. These mountaines are full of bathes and veines of warme water.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 227. The rapid current,… through veins Of porous Earth with kindly thirst up drawn.
1789. Brand, Newcastle, I. 442. There is an order of common-council for cutting off a vein of water which had lately been discovered and brought into the town.
1858. Lardner, Handbk. Nat. Phil., 90. A feeding reservoir placed above that from which the invariable vein flows.
1864. Bryant, Sella, 487. She taught The skill to pierce the soil and meet the veins Of clear cold water winding underneath.
fig. 1382. Wyclif, Jer. xvii. 13. For thei forsoken the veyne of lyuyng watris [1388 the Lord, a veyne of quyk watirs].
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 62. O welle of swetnes replete in every veyne, That al mankynd preserved has fro dethe.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., Prol., Wks. 1856, I. 71. The rawish danke of clumzie winter ramps The fluent summers vaine.
1609. Bible (Douay), Jer. xvii. 13. They have forsaken the vaine of living waters.
1640. Gauden, The Love of Truth, etc., 7. Then doth the ray or veyn of truth flow aright from God to us.
† b. A streamlet or rivulet; a current. Obs.
1600. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, III. 158. Through the midst of these gardens, they deriue some small vaine of the riuer.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 705. When hee entred into the Streits, he encountred a great veine of redde water, extending it selfe from Aden as farre as they could see from the Ships tops.
c. Physics. A slender body of water or other liquid. (Cf. 1 c.)
1843. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., VI. 39/2. The impulse of a ‘vein’ of fluid falling perpendicularly, is equal to the weight of a column whose base is the area of the vein.
7. Min. A deposit of metallic or earthy material having an extended or ramifying course under ground; a seam or lode; spec. a continuous crack or fissure filled with matter (esp. metallic ore) different from the containing rock.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 15. Þe water þat renneþ and passeþ by veynes of certayn metal takiþ in his cours grete hete.
c. 1460. J. Metham, Wks. (E.E.T.S.), 149. The fourthe day ys gode … to seke spryngys for wellys off water, to seke also veynys off metel.
1530. Palsgr., 698/2. Al this yerth, so farre as this vayne goth, savoureth of brimstone.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 211. Although golde be founde in maner euery where in these regions of golden Castile … the myne or veyne whiche owghte to be folowed, ought to bee in a place whiche may stande to saue muche of the charges of the labourers.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., II. 247. In Clidisdale war funde in Craufurd mure vndir the erd sum vanes ful of golde.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 136. The inward parts abound with a rich vaine of Mettals, where wonderfull quantitie of most pure Tinne is digged up.
1670. Pettus, Fodinæ Reg., 2. When the Miners by these Shafts or Adits do strike or threed a Vein of any Metal … then the Metal which is digged from those Veins is called Oar.
1709. T. Robinson, Nat. Hist. Westmoreld., 24. These Fissures, by the Miners, are called Dykes, Rakes, Riders, or Veins, according to the Nature of those Classes of Matter they pervade.
1747. Hooson, Miner’s Dict., O 2. Ore is the very Vein itself, all other Signs of Ore or Vein are not comparable to it; yet this is allowed, that two Sides and Soil between them, formes a dead Vein.
1793. [Earl Dundonald], Descr. Estate Culross, 15. At that time the vein of Roch Salt in Cheshire had not been discovered.
1813. Bakewell, Introd. Geol. (1815), 274. Veins of quartz, and also of slate and granite, and various earthy minerals … frequently intersect granitic and schistose rocks.
1836–41. Brande, Chem. (ed. 5), 586. Metals are chiefly found in the earth in veins which traverse the granitic, schistose, and limestone rocks.
1875. J. W. Dawson, Dawn of Life, ii. 13. Strata often diversified with veins … of crystalline minerals.
fig. a. 1667. Cowley, Death Mr. Jordan, Poems (1905), 22. Like those that work in Mines for others gain. He … had much more to do, To search the Vein, dig, purge, and mint it too.
1875. Whitney, Life Lang., ix. 171. These are telling indications of an original relationship among all the groups of languages mentioned: outcroppings, as it were, of a vein which invites further exploration.
8. † a. A strip or limited stretch of ground or soil, esp. one having a particular character or quality. Obs.
1555. Watreman, Fardle Facions, II. ii. 119. The whole contrie (excepte a litle vaine of sandie grauelle) is fertile.
1580. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 48. Each soile hath no liking of euerie graine, nor barlie and wheat is for euerie vaine.
1611. Coryat, Crudities, 49. I saw in divers places very fat and fruitfull veines of ground as goodly meadowes, very spatious champaigne fieldes [etc.].
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia, 144. The most plantations were placed straglingly and scatteringly, as a choice veine of rich ground inuited them.
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., I. 19. Some Earths are much better than others in every Climate, nay even sometimes in a small Compass of Ground, vulgarly term’d Veins of Earth.
b. A channel or lane of water.
1606. S. Gardiner, Bk. Angling, 1. He prouideth himselfe a ship, keele, or cocke-boat, out of which he may lay out and take in his nets, and be in the vaine and way where the best doing is.
1673. H. Stubbe, Further Vind. Dutch War, App. 131. The King of Sweden … hath also several districts, channels, or veins Royal in his Seas, which are appropriated to his particular use.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., I. 229. A lane, or vein, is a narrow channel of water in packs, or other large collections of ice. Ibid., 269. Whenever a vein of water appears in the required direction, it is if possible attained.
1835. [see LANE sb. 2].
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Vein, the clear water between the openings of floes of ice. The same as ice-lane.
c. A current of wind; the track in which this moves.
1792. Belknap, Hist. New Hampsh., III. 24. The next day a whirlwind began … and directed its course toward the east, in a vein of near half a mile wide.
1860. Maury, Phys. Geog., xv. § 677. Lieutenant Jansen has called my attention to a vein of wind which forms a current in the air as remarkable as that of the Gulf Stream is in the sea.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Vein,… a very limited current of wind—a cat’s-paw.
d. Whaling. (See quot.)
1851. H. Melville, Whale, II. ii. 5. When making a passage from one feeding ground to another, the sperm whales, guided by some infallible instinct,… mostly swim in veins, as they are called, continuing their way along a given ocean-line with … undeviating exactitude.
III. fig. 9. A strain or intermixture of some quality traceable in personal character or conduct, in a discourse or writing, etc.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Staphylus’ Apol., 153. With the like vaine of euangelicall sincerite.
1587. Holinshed, Chron., III. 1266/1. Bicause it is a veine of godlie deuise, and tending to a verie honorable purpose.
1680. W. Allen, Peace & Unity, 16. ‘Let all your things be done with Charity’: a line and vein of this should run through all.
1690. C. Nesse, Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test., I. 117. This is a fear of faith, which hath always a vein of love running along with it.
1701. W. Wotton, Hist. Rome, 389. A vein of Superstition ran through all his Actions.
1773. Burke, Corr. (1844), I. 446. There is a vein of natural good sense in him, from which a good deal might be expected.
1820. Examiner, No. 612. 11/2. A fine vein of sentiment runs through it.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 20. An English Dominican … with some learning and a rich vein of natural humour.
1849. Daily News, 29 Dec., 2/2. Canning, in the House of Commons, denounced Cartwright as ‘that old heart in London, from which the veins of sedition in the country are supplied.’
1867. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1877), I. 331. There is a vein of bitter sarcasm in the way in which the tale is told.
b. A line or course of thought, etc.; a source of information.
1704. Swift, T. Tub, ii. I have … collected out of ancient authors this short summary of a body of philosophy and divinity, which seems to have been composed by a vein and race of thinking very different from any other systems.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 169, ¶ 12. Delay opens new veins of thought.
1824. W. Irving, T. Trav., I. 217. In the midst of a vein of thought or a moment of inspiration.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), II. 6. He professes to open a new vein of discourse.
1887. Moloney, Forestry W. Africa, 32. The many gentlemen who make the Science of Botany a lifelong study, and who have so many veins of information.
† 10. a. The tenor or general character of something. Obs.–1
1555. R. Taylor, in Coverdale, Lett. Martyrs (1564), 171. I doe belieue that the Religion set forth in King Edwardes dayes was accordyng to the vayne of the holy Scripture.
† b. A kind or species. Obs. rare.
1568. Bp. Cheny, in Strype, Ann. Ref. (1709), I. lii. 525. These young men, which are of a lover vein,… be not men perfect, as they seem.
1652–62. Heylin, Cosmogr. (1673), III. 29/1. Other Commodities of this Island are … Honey as good as any the world affordeth; and a vein of most delicious vines.
11. A natural tendency towards, a special aptitude or capacity for, the production of literary or artistic work; a particular strain of talent or genius: a. With possessives. (The common use.)
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., N ij b. If I had Virgilles vayne to indite, or Homers quill.
1581. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 21. They beeing Poets, dyd exercise their delightful vaine in those points of highest knowledge.
1624. Wotton, Arch., Reliq. (1672), 57. Artizans have not only their Growths and Perfections but likewise their Vains and Times.
1697. Evelyn, Numismata, viii. 286. Vittoria Colonna,… whose extraordinary Vein in Poetry was equal with Petrarchs.
1729. T. Cooke, Tales, etc., 63. Indulge, my Friend, thy modest Vein;… Prospects, gay smiling, aid the Strain.
1762. Kames, Elem. Crit. (1833), 336. The fertility of Shakspeare’s vein betrays him frequently [etc.].
1837. Lockhart, Scott, I. iv. 122. His boyish addiction to verse, and the rebuke which his vein received from the Apothecary’s … wife.
b. With a, that, etc.
1580. G. Harvey, Three Lett., Spenser’s Wks. (1912), 628. They sauour of that singular extraordinarie veine and inuention, whiche I euer fancied moste.
1599. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., III. i. You must prove the aptitude of your genius; if you find none, you must hearken out a vein, and buy.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 72. All the fabulous veine, and learning of Greece, proceeded out of this quarter.
1656. Bramhall, Replic., ii. 78. I doe not take my self to have so happy a vein, that all that I utter should be a definition.
17[?]. Philips, Epistle, in Steele’s Poet. Misc. (1714), 37. Why then, in making Verses should I strain For Wit, and of Apollo beg a Vein?
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., III. § 15. For the coffee-houses and populace, we have declaimers of a copious vein.
1820. Hazlitt, Lect. Dram. Lit., 2. To these might be added others not less learned, nor with a scarce less happy vein.
12. A special or characteristic style of language or expression in writing or speech: a. With possessives.
1548. Udall, Erasm. Par., Pref. C j b. Though euerie translatour folowe his owne veine of turnyng the Latin into Englishe.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Oct., 23. To restraine The lust of lawlesse youth with good aduice: Or pricke them forth with pleasaunce of thy vaine.
1597. Return fr. Parnass., IV. i. 1166. Lett mee heare Chaucer’s vaine firste. I love antiquitie, if it be not harshe.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. iv. § 2. Then grew the flowing and watery vein of Osorius, the Portugal bishop, to be in price.
1641. Brome, Joviall Crew, I. What say, Sir, to our Poet Scribble here? Spr. I like his vain exceeding well.
1818. Scott, Provinc. Antiq. Scotl. (1826), 119. After adorning it with an inscription, somewhat in the vein of Ancient Pistol.
1902. G. Sampson, Newman’s Sel. Ess., Introd. p. xxxvi. They [sc. these words] are not in Blougram’s vein.
b. With a, this, etc.
1576. N. R., in Gascoigne’s Steele Glas, Wks. 1910, II. 138. Thus divers men with divers vaines did write, But Gascoigne doth in every vaine indite.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, II. i. 29. To haue a sweet vaine in speech.
1620–6. Quarles, Div. Poems, Hadassa, Pref. A Sober vaine best suits Theologie.
a. 1704. Locke, Cond. Underst., Posth. Wks. (1706), 18. Many a good poetick Vein is buried under a Trade.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Sat., I. iv. 133. Such Rancour this, of such a poisonous Vein, As never, never, shall my Paper stain.
1850. Kingsley, A. Locke, ix. Is it not noteworthy also, that it is in this vein that the London poets have always been greatest?
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 276. The answer, Meno, was in the orthodox solemn vein.
c. With his, etc., and qualifying term.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xii. To which Hereward answered, in his boasting vein, that he would bring home that mare.
1873. Dixon, Two Queens, XX. i. IV. 61. Writing a letter in his smoothest vein to Wolsey.
1877. ‘H. A. Page,’ De Quincey, I. xi. 213. The following shows him in his best vein.
† 13. A particular course of action or conduct; a habit or practice. Obs.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., 124. The composers of that age … followed only that vaine of wresting in much matter in small boundes.
1615. Lieut. of Tower’s Sp., in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), III. 319. I was much addicted to that idle Vein of Gambling.
1616. R. C., Times’ Whistle (1871), 62. Thus he runs on his course, til’s drunken vaine Ruines his substance.
c. 1725. Swift, Serm., x. Wks. 1841, II. 164/1. Hence it is become an impertinent vein among people of all sorts to hunt after what they call a good sermon.
† b. An inclination or desire, a tendency, towards something specified. Obs.
1587. Harrison, England, II. iii. (1877), 88. I perceiue the abbeie lands haue fleshed you and set your teeth on edge, to aske also those colleges…. As you loue your welfares therfore, follow no more this veine, but content your selues with that you haue alreadie.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Of Envy (Arb.), 513. Adrian the Emperour, that mortally Enuied Poets, and Painters, and Artificers, in Works, wherein he had a veine to excell.
1673. Temple, Ess. Ireland, Wks. 1720, I. 109. I suppose the Vein I have had of running into Speculations of this kind … have cost me this present Service.
14. Personal character or disposition; also, a particular element or trait in this.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Vena, To know the naturall disposition and veyne of euery man.
1575. Gascoigne, Glasse Govt., Wks. 1910, II. 6. No Terence phrase:… The verse that pleasde a Romaine rashe intent, Myght well offend the godly Preachers vayne.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., IV. iv. 83. It is no shame, the fellow finds his vaine, And yeelding to him, humors well his frensie.
1639. N. N., trans. Du Bosq’s Compl. Woman, I. 17. They have need of somewhat more than a pleasant veyne, and … at least they have as much discretion as vertue.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), II. 145. The veine of those petty Bourkes … may seeme strange to any that is both well affected and fully acquainted with them.
1774. Goldsm., Retal., 59. So provoking a devil was Dick, That we wished him full ten times a day at Old Nick; But, missing his mirth and agreeable vein, As often we wished to have Dick back again.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, I. ii. 28. You have a sly, equivocating vein.
1820. Lamb, Elia, I. Oxford in Vacation. When the peacock vein rises, I strut a Gentleman Commoner.
1854. Kingsley, Lett. (1878), I. 433. I am afraid I have a little of the wolf-vein in me, in spite of fifteen centuries of civilization.
b. A temporary state of mind or feeling; a humour or mood.
1577–82. Breton, Toys Idle Head, Wks. (Grosart), I. 28/2. For who continues in this vaine Of setting still,… in the ende he shall be faine To leaue it.
1588. Marprel. Epist. (Arb.), 34. I am hardly drawn to a merie vaine from such waightie matters.
1602. 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass., II. iv. 699. Ile take the Gentleman now, he is in a good vayne, for he smiles.
1640. Brome, Sparagus Gard., IV. vii. Could I get her In a marriage vaine, but she’ll not look Upon a man not she.
1723. Pope, Lett., Wks. 1737, VI. 146. The merry Vein you knew me in, is sunk into a Turn of Reflection.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 113. Harry was in no manner of vein … for entertaining.
1825. Scott, Talism., vi. He knew not how to pursue the pleasing theme, so as to soothe and prolong the vein which he had excited.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, I. iv. If thou art in a classical vein, put myrtle about his curls and make him a young Bacchus.
c. In the vein, in a fit or suitable mood for something.
1593. Shaks., Rich. III., IV. iii. 122. Thou troublest me, I am not in the vaine.
1865. M. Arnold, Ess. Crit., iii. (1875), 119. To produce constantly, to produce whether in the vein or out of the vein.
1879. Meredith, Egoist, xxxiv. I like to hear them when I am in the vein.
1905. R. Bagot, Passport, xix. 176. Nobody can be more amusing when she is in the vein.
† d. A fit of laughter. Obs.–1
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), VII. 29. He burst into a loud vein of laughter.
IV. 15. attrib. and Comb. a. In sense 1, as vein-blood (also = blood-letting), -healing adj., -pipe, -streaked adj., -work.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1889. That nother veyne blod, ne ventusyng, Ne drynk of herbes may ben his helpyng.
c. 1425. St. Christina, ix., in Anglia, VIII. 123/16. She lete her blode ful often of mykel veyne blode.
1528. Paynell, Salerne’s Regim., b iiij. Hit is nat clere nor flowynge, but more lyke to veyne bludde.
1545. Raynald, Byrth Mankynde, 17 b. Vayne blood and artire blood.
1590. Spenser, Muiopot., 197. Veyne-healing Veruen, and hed-purging Dill.
1594. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., II. To Rdr. The coole refreshing it hath from the lungs, or the veine-pipes proceeding from the liuer.
1890. Le Gallienne, G. Meredith, 32. The human form disappears beneath nets of veinwork and muscle.
1894. Mrs. Dyan, Man’s Keeping (1899), 118. Urquhart … saw the vein-streaked hand gripping the pipe-stem tremble.
† b. In sense 6 b, as vein-riveret. Obs.–1
1656. Heylin, Surv. France, 34. A veine riveret of the Seine.
c. In sense 7, as vein fissure, -form, -formation, -gallery, -granite, marble, etc.
1855. J. R. Leifchild, Cornwall, 105. The general course of the mineral *vein fissures in these localities.
1883. Science, 9 Feb., 18/1. A *vein-form similar to the terrestrial veins commonly known as filons en cocardes.
1877. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 115. The creeks and gulches … cutting channels through this *vein-formation.
1897. P. Warung, Tales Old Régime, 96. The chamber … into which the *vein-galleries … opened.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 355. The *vein-granite of Cornwall very generally assumes a finer grain, and frequently undergoes a change.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 2430. Its great strength, ten times that of *vein marble and statuary, renders it safe from breakage.
1872. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 19. Quartz or quartzite predominating as *vein-matrix, and compact limestone as foot-wall. Ibid. (1874), 329. The *vein-matter in the westerly portion … is of quite a different nature.
1875. J. H. Collins, Metal Mining, 47. In *vein mining trial borings are not often made.
1877. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 131. The active vein-mining counties of California. Ibid., 213. The *vein-system consists in most part of a series of nearly parallel veins.
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., 12. Pyritæ are to be met with … *vein-wise.
