# skein

> English word · Noun · IPA /skeɪn/ · frequency rank #64,009

## Definitions
1. A quantity of thread, yarn, etc., wound on a reel then removed and loosely knotted into an oblong shape; a skein of cotton is formed by eighty turns of thread around a reel with a fifty-four inch diameter.
2. A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1 sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
3. A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1 sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
4. A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1 sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
5. A tangle, a weave, a web.
6. A winning streak.
7. A series created by a web (“major broadcasting network”).

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English skaine, skayne (“quantity of string, thread, etc., wound on a reel; the string, thread, etc., so wound”), from Old French escaigne (modern French écagne, écaigne (Picardy)); further etymology uncertain, probably from Proto-Celtic, from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to split off”).
The verb is derived from noun.
cognates
* Irish scáinne (“skein, clew”)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/skein