Phrase guide

weather vane

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈwɛð.ə veɪn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A mechanical device rotating around one axis and attached to an elevated object such as a roof for showing the direction of the wind.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vane, weathercock

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An indicator; something that reflects what the current situation is.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A person or organization that changes their attitude and position based on the prevailing conditions rather than displaying any conviction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

mechanical device attached to an elevated structure; rotates freely to show the direction of the wind

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: weathervane, vane, wind vane

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mechanical device

Narrower terms: weathercock, wind tee

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: دَوَّارَة رِيَاح (dawwārat riyāḥ) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Azerbaijani: yelqovan — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Breton: gwiblenn — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Bulgarian: ветропоказател (vetropokazatel) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Catalan: penell — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Catalan: gallet — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Chinese Mandarin: 風標 /风标 (fēngbiāo) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Czech: korouhev — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Danish: vindfløj — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Danish: vejrhane — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Dutch: windwijzer — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Dutch: windvaan — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Esperanto: ventoflago — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Finnish: tuuliviiri — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • French: girouette — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Galician: catavento — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Galician: virantenla — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Galician: penel — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • German: Wetterfahne — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • German: Windfahne — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Greek: ανεμοδείκτης (anemodeíktis) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Hungarian: szélkakas — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Icelandic: vindhani — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Ingrian: lippu — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Italian: banderuola — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Japanese: 風見鶏 (kazamidori) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Macedonian: ве́троказ (vétrokaz) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Norwegian Bokmål: vindfløy — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: vindfløy — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Polish: wiatrowskaz — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Portuguese: cata-vento — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Portuguese: ventoinha — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Portuguese: catavento — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Romanian: giruetă — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Russian: флю́гер (fljúger) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Serbo-Croatian: ветроказ — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Serbo-Croatian: vetrokaz — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Slovene: vetrokaz — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Spanish: veleta — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Swedish: vindflöjel — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Swedish: väderflöjel — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Turkish: yelkovan — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Turkish: pinel — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Ottoman Turkish: یل قوغان (yel koğan) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Ottoman Turkish: پیكل (piñel) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Ottoman Turkish: پینل (pinel) — a device showing the direction of the wind
  • Welsh: ceiliog gwynt — a device showing the direction of the wind