# vane

Pronunciation: say "VAYN" /veɪn/

## Noun

1. A weather vane: a pivoting pointer that turns to show which way the wind is blowing.
   - Simple: A pointer that turns in the wind to show which way it is blowing.
   - _The copper vane on the church steeple swung north as the storm rolled in._
   - _Fishermen in the harbor glanced up at the vane before deciding whether to set out._
2. One of several usually thin, rigid, flat or curved surfaces mounted radially on an axis, like a turbine blade or windmill sail, that is turned by a fluid or used to move one.
   - Simple: One of the blades around the center of a turbine or windmill that air or water pushes, or that pushes them.
   - _Steam rushing past the turbine's vanes spins the generator shaft._
   - _A single cracked vane threw the whole pump out of balance._
3. The flat, web-like part of a feather, made up of rows of barbs on each side of the central shaft.
   - Simple: The flat part of a feather that grows out on both sides of its center stem.
   - _Under the microscope, the barbs of the vane could be seen locked tightly together._
   - _When a jay preens, it draws each feather through its beak to smooth the vanes._
4. One of the metal fins on the tail of a bomb or other missile that guide or stabilize it in flight.
   - Simple: One of the metal fins at the back of a bomb or rocket that keep it flying straight.
   - _The bomb's tail vanes were bent during loading, so the crew set it aside._
   - _Each vane on the missile can tilt slightly to steer it toward the target._
5. A sight on a sextant or compass, used to aim the instrument at a distant object.
   - Simple: A small part on a compass or sextant that you look along to aim it.
   - _She lined up the compass vane with the lighthouse and read off the bearing._
   - _Through the slit in the vane, the navigator found the headland and took a bearing._

## Origin

From Middle English vane, a southern variant of fane, from Old English fana ("cloth, banner, flag"), from Proto-West Germanic *fanō and Proto-Germanic *fanô, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- ("something woven; cloth"). It is cognate with Dutch vaan ("banner, flag") and German Fahne, and a doublet of obsolete fane ("weathercock; banner") and fanon.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/vane (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).