Etymology From Middle English veyne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna for more. Doublet of vena. Displaced native edre, from ǣdre (whence edder).
Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart.
The nurse hovered her vein finder to locate the veins in the patient's body.
An vncouth paine torments my grieued ſoule, And death arreſts the organe of my voyce. Who entring at the breach thy ſword hath made, Sackes euery vaine and artier of my heart, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:
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In plural The entrails of a shrimp.
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Biology, Botany, Natural sciences In leaves, a thickened portion of the leaf containing the vascular bundle.
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Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology The nervure of an insect’s wing.
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A stripe or streak of a different colour or composition in materials such as wood, cheese, marble or other rocks.
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Geography, Geology, Natural sciences A sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock.
They generally occur in the earth in what are called veins, and are seldom found in the pure metallic state, but generally in combination with some other substance, in which state they are called ores.1846, editorial staff, “CHEMISTRY”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 2, Issue 13, page 102:
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Figuratively A topic of discussion; a train of association, thoughts, emotions, etc.
in the same vein
He[…]is able to open new scenes, and discover a vein of true and noble thinking.1712, Jonathan Swift, A Proposal For Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue:
1 more example
Come ride with me Through the veins of history, I'll show you how God Falls asleep on the job2006, Matt Bellamy, “Knights of Cydonia”, in Black Holes and Revelations, performed by Muse:
certain discoursing wits which are of the same veins1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Truth”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
1 more example
Invoke the Muses, and improve my vein.1645, Edmund Waller, The Battle Of The Summer Islands:
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A fissure, cleft, or cavity, as in the earth or other substance.
down to the veins of earth1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
I took another Prism therefore which was free from Veins1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English veyne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna for more. Doublet of vena. Displaced native edre, from ǣdre (whence edder).
1
To mark with veins or a vein-like pattern.
[…] as he ceased from that wild imprecation, a faint flash of lightning veined the remote horizon, and a low clap of thunder rumbled afar off, echoing among the hills […]1853, Henry William Herbert, chapter 18, in The Roman Traitor, volume II, Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson, page 204:
“We brought out our maps of the region and showed him the old routes and trails veining the whole of it. […]”1920, Melville Davisson Post, chapter 14, in The Sleuth of St. James’s Square: