gein

Borrowed from German Geïn, coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1832, from Ancient Greek γήινος (gḗinos, “of earth”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”).^[1]

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.

• Gien, NigE, Nige

• gijn (obsolete)

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

• IPA^(key): /ɣɛi̯n/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: gein
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯n
• Homophones: Gein, gijn

gein m (uncountable, diminutive geintje n)

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

• enig, neig

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

gein

1. instructive plural of gee

• Inge

gein

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

gein

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

gein

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

gein

1. alternative form of gain (“against”)

From Proto-Celtic *genan, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-.^[1][2]

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʲenʲ/

gein n (genitive gene, nominative plural gene)

1. verbal noun of gainithir
2. birth (beginning of life)
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 85^b11

     Air amal as toísegiu grían indáas laithe 7 is laithe foilsigedar cech rét síc is toíssigiu gein maicc hua athair re cech dúil.

     For as the sun is prior to the day, and [as] it is the day that makes every thing clear, so the birth of the Son from the Father is prior to every element.

   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 44^a11
   1. (Christianity) the Nativity
3. someone who was born

• aithgin (“rebirth”)
• Fíngin (literally “wine-born”)

  Irish: Fínín

• Midgen (literally “mead-born”)

• Middle Irish: gein
  • Irish: gin
  • Scottish Gaelic: gin (“anyone, anything”, pronoun)

• breth (“birth”) (process of giving birth/being born)

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “gein”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

gein

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

gein (nominative plural geins)

1. gin