Meanings
plural groynes · alternative groin
- An often wooden structure that projects from a coastline to prevent erosion, longshore drift etc.; a breakwater.
Old rail and timber groynes will be erected along the beach to trap shingle moved by coastwise drift, and to rebuild the protection to the toe of the embankment.
1959 May 28, “Notes and News: Reconstruction of Sea Wall near Abergele”, in Railway Magazine, page 3591 more example
Our assimilation into one another had been beautifully timed, with each little revelation of unpleasantness acting as a modest baffler, a groyne to our mutual inundation. Now all of this was going to be flooded, drenched in poisonous ichor.
1993, Will Self, My Idea of Fun
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latingrunnire“grunt like a pig”
- Late Latingrunium
- Old Frenchgroign
- Middle Englishgroyn“snout”
- Englishgroyne
From Middle English groyn (“snout”), from Old French groign, from Late Latin grunium, grunia, from Latin grunnire (“grunt like a pig”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian буна
- буна (buna)structure to prevent erosion
Catalan espigó, galop
- espigóstructure to prevent erosion
- galopstructure to prevent erosion
Danish høfde
- høfdestructure to prevent erosion
Dutch krib, strandhoofd
- kribstructure to prevent erosion
- strandhoofdstructure to prevent erosion
Estonian buun
- buunstructure to prevent erosion
Finnish suiste, siipipato
- suistestructure to prevent erosion
- siipipatostructure to prevent erosion
French épi
- épistructure to prevent erosion
German Buhne, Kribbe
- Buhnestructure to prevent erosion
- Kribbestructure to prevent erosion
- Wellenbrecherstructure to prevent erosion
- Lahnungstructure to prevent erosion
Italian frangiflutti
- frangifluttistructure to prevent erosion
Japanese 水制
- 水制 (mizusei)structure to prevent erosion
Korean 방사제
- 방사제 (bangsaje)structure to prevent erosion
Polish ostroga brzegowa
- ostroga brzegowastructure to prevent erosion
Russian полузапру́да, бу́на
- полузапру́да (poluzaprúda)structure to prevent erosion
- бу́на (búna)structure to prevent erosion
Spanish escollera, espigón
- escollerastructure to prevent erosion
- espigónstructure to prevent erosion
Swedish hövd
- hövdstructure to prevent erosion
Welsh argor
- argorstructure to prevent erosion
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with groyne
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
groyne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/groyne
“groyne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/groyne. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “groyne,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/groyne.
Source: groyne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.