wheen

W4H4E1E1N1
/ʍiːn//wiːn/

noun

A little; a small number.

OriginMiddle English *wheen ← Old English hwēne →
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Meanings

wheen1

nounwheen (plural wheens)

plural wheens · alternative whean · alternative whin

  1. UKdialectalA little; a small number.
  2. Northern IrelandScotlandUKdialectalA quantity; a goodly number.

    I have six terriers at hame, forbye twa couple of slow-hunds, five grews, and a wheen other dogs.

    1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC
    1 more example

    She never seemed to want for siller; the house was as bright as a new preen, the yaird better delved than the manse garden; and there was routh of fowls and doos about the small steading, forbye a wheen sheep and milk-kye in the fields.

    1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

Wheen2

proper nounWheen (plural Wheens)

plural Wheens

  1. A surname.

Origin

  1. Old Englishhwēne
  2. Middle English*wheen
  3. Englishwheen

From Middle English *wheen, quhein (also hwan, hwon, quhon), from Old English hwēne, hwǣne (“somewhat, a little”), instrumental form of hwōn (“little, few, a little, trifle, somewhat, a little while”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

wheen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheen

MLA

“wheen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wheen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheen.

Source: wheen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.