fin

A1 Topic:The Human Body

US /fɪn/ See IPA manual

Freq #8781

Meanings

1

noun
organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals

Some fish have pectoral and dorsal fins.
2

noun
a stabilizer on a ship that resembles the fin of a fish

I scraped barnacles off the fins of my new boat.
3

noun
a shoe for swimming

I put on a pair of fins before I went snorkelling.
4

noun
one of a set of parallel slats in a door or window to admit air and reject rain

My new door had fins made out of mahogany.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · a shoe for swimming flipper

4 noun · one of a set of parallel... louverlouvre

More mohicanvane

Word family

Forms fins

Derived forms backfinbigfinblackfinbloodfinbluefinbowfindefinnedfan-in-finfin-footfin-footedfin-likefin-toed

Related forms cul-de-sac

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English fin, from Old English finn, from Proto-Germanic *finnō, *finǭ (“dorsal fin”) (compare Dutch vin, German Finne, Swedish finne, fena), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pīn- (“backbone, dorsal fin”) (compare Old Irish ind (“end, point”), Latin pinna (“feather, wing, fin”), Tocharian A spin (“hook”).

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# fin

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /fɪn/
**Frequency rank:** 8781

## Meanings
1. organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals
2. a stabilizer on a ship that resembles the fin of a fish
3. a shoe for swimming
4. one of a set of parallel slats in a door or window to admit air and reject rain

## Examples
- Some fish have pectoral and dorsal fins.
- I scraped barnacles off the fins of my new boat.
- I put on a pair of fins before I went snorkelling.
- My new door had fins made out of mahogany.

## Synonyms
- mohican
- vane

## Derived Forms
- backfin
- bigfin
- blackfin
- bloodfin
- bluefin
- bowfin
- definned
- fan-in-fin
- fin-foot
- fin-footed
- fin-like
- fin-toed

## Related Forms
- cul-de-sac

## Etymology
From Middle English fin, from Old English finn, from Proto-Germanic *finnō, *finǭ (“dorsal fin”) (compare Dutch vin, German Finne, Swedish finne, fena), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pīn- (“backbone, dorsal fin”) (compare Old Irish ind (“end, point”), Latin pinna (“feather, wing, fin”), Tocharian A spin (“hook”).

## Topics
- The Human Body

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fin