whin 1 |(h)win|
noun chiefly N. English
furze; gorse.
ORIGIN late Middle English : probably of Scandinavian origin; compare with Swedish ven ‘bent grass.’
whin 2 (also whinstone)
noun Brit.
hard, dark basaltic rock such as that of the Whin Sill in Northern England.
ORIGIN Middle English : of unknown origin.
gorse |gôrs|
noun
a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family, the leaves of which are modified to form spines, native to western Europe and North Africa. • Genus Ulex, family Leguminosae: several species, in particular the very spiny U. europaeus, which was introduced to North America.
DERIVATIVES
gorsy adjective
ORIGIN Old English gors, gorst, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘rough, prickly,’ shared by German Gerste and Latin hordeum ‘barley.’
(Source: Wikipedia)
