vein

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   One of the tubes in your body that carry blood back to the heart.

   The nurse found a vein in his arm and took a blood sample.

2. 2
   noun

   A particular style, mood, or quality of something.

   The play is written in a satirical vein.

3. 3
   noun

   A layer of a mineral or metal that runs through rock.

   The miners discovered a rich vein of gold.

4. 4
   verb

   To mark something with veins or a pattern like veins.

   Thin streaks of marble veined the polished floor.

From Middle English veyne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna for more. Doublet of vena. Displaced native edre, from ǣdre (whence edder).

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