skean

1 of 4

variants or skeane

less common spellings of skein

skean

2 of 4

noun (1)

ˈskē(-ə)n 

variants or skene

: dagger, dirk

skein

3 of 4

noun (2)

ˈskān 

1

or less commonly skean or skeane

ˈskān 

: a loosely coiled length of yarn or thread wound on a reel

2

: something suggesting the twists or coils of a skein : tangle

3

: a flock of wildfowl (such as geese or ducks) in flight

skein

4 of 4

verb

skeined; skeining; skeins

transitive verb

: to wind into skeins

skein yarn

Examples of skean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Didion’s missives were keenly observant, full of language that cut like a skean. — Erin Overbey, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2021

Noun

Metalpoint is delicate by comparison with ink, almost weblike; but in both cases, the drawings are unraveling clusters and skeins, with passages both tight and loose. — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

Its shop, housed in an 1890 schoolhouse, sells beautiful knitwear, jewelry, and home goods by the school’s students and instructors, plus skeins of yarn. — Charles Usher, Midwest Living, 26 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English skene, from Irish scian & Scottish Gaelic sgian, from Old Irish scían; probably akin to Sanskrit chyati he cuts off — more at science

Noun (2)

Middle English skeyne, from Middle French (Picard) escagne, probably from Vulgar Latin *scamnia, from *scamniare to wind yarn, from *scamnium rack for holding bobbins, from Latin scamnum bench, stool — more at shambles

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1775, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for skean

• bean
• bein
• bien
• bouin
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• jean
• keen
• lien