horse-wain

noun

A wain (i.e. wagon) drawn by horse.

OriginMiddle English *hors-wain ← Old English horswæġn →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounhorse-wain (plural horse-wains)

plural horse-wains · alternative horse wain

  1. rareA wain (i.e. wagon) drawn by horse.

    Upon a horse-wain, even as thou sayest, […]

    1909, Sophocles in English Verse, volume 2, page 43
    3 more examples

    Coal was conveyed into the more remote districts in the rough horse-wains of the time, and carried also in sacks or creels slung on the backs of pack horses.

    1862, North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, Transactions, volume 10, page 121

    I've tut up my sasses for horse-wains, An' twaded by sippers for boots: […]

    1873, Mothers' Journal: A Family Magazine, volume 38, page 550

    And thou, my daughter, from the horse-wain step, […]

    1916, Euripides, Arthur Sanders Way, Euripides: Iphigeneia at Aulis, page 57

Origin

  1. Old Englishhorswæġn“chariot”
  2. Middle English*hors-wain
  3. Englishhorse-wain

From Middle English *hors-wain, from Old English horswæġn (“chariot”), equivalent to horse + wain.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

horse-wain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horse-wain

MLA

“horse-wain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horse-wain. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “horse-wain,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horse-wain.

Source: horse-wain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.