Phrase guide

winnowing fan

noun · 2 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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A specially shaped winnowing basket, in which grain is shaken in the process of winnowing, with the shape of the basket allowing the chaff to spill out more readily.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any fan device, including those electrically powered, used in winnowing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: քամհար (kʻamhar) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Azerbaijani: hövsər — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Breton: gwentell — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Chinese Mandarin: 風車 /风车 (fēngchē) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Finnish: löyhytin — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • French: van — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍉 (winþiskaurō) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Ancient Greek: πτύον (ptúon) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Ancient Greek: λίκνον (líknon) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Japanese: 箕 (mi) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Kikuyu: gĩtarũrũ — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Latin: vannus — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Latin: ventilābrum — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Polish: wiejadło — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Russian: ве́ялка (véjalka) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Swahili: ungo — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Swahili: uteo — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Swedish: vindsikt — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Tamil: முறம் (muṟam) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Ottoman Turkish: منشار (minşar) — fan used to separate chaff from grain
  • Welsh: gwyntyll — fan used to separate chaff from grain