Meanings
plural ginnels · alternative gennel
- EnglandYorkshireespeciallyLancashire; Manchester; Lancashire; ManchesterA narrow passageway or alley often between terraced houses.
[…]maks things as pleasant as stondin in a ginnel ov a wyndy neet waitin o'th' sweetheart comin out.
1885, Benjamin Brierley, Ab-o'th'-Yate in Yankeeland, page 592 more examples
At the end of a short side-street a narrow ginnel with concrete bollards led into the surprisingly wide area in which the blocks of flats stood.
1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 169Pssht, get over here, whoopie / Finish him like Sub-Zero / Out the window, into the garden / Over the fence and straight through the ginnel
2014 September 7, “Spitfire”, Aaron Davis (lyrics), performed by Davis, Aaron [as Bugzy Malone], JDZ Media
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*giną“throat, gullet”
- Old Norsegin“throat, gullet, maw”
- Old Englishgin“an opening, gap, abyss”
- Englishginnel
From dialectal ginn (“road or passage down to the sea”) + -el (diminutive suffix), ultimately from Old English gin (“an opening, gap, abyss”) or Old Norse gin (“throat, gullet, maw”), both from Proto-Germanic *giną (“throat, gullet”).
More words from Old English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish sola, kuja
- solanarrow passageway
- kujanarrow passageway
French venelle
- venellenarrow passageway
German Gasse
- Gassenarrow passageway
Polish wąska alejka między budynkami
- wąska alejka między budynkaminarrow passageway
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ginnel
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
ginnel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginnel
“ginnel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginnel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ginnel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ginnel.
Source: ginnel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.