noun
- Sir HenrySir Harry Vane, 1613–62, British statesman and author.
noun
- Also called: weather vane, wind vane a flat plate or blade of metal mounted on a vertical axis in an exposed position to indicate wind direction
- any one of the flat blades or sails forming part of the wheel of a windmill
- any flat or shaped plate used to direct fluid flow, esp a stator blade in a turbine, etc
- a fin or plate fitted to a projectile or missile to provide stabilization or guidance
- ornithol the flat part of a feather, consisting of two rows of barbs on either side of the shaft
- surveying
- a sight on a quadrant or compass
- the movable marker on a levelling staff
noun
- Sir Henry, known as Sir Harry Vane. 1613–62, English Puritan statesman and colonial administrator; governor of Massachusetts (1636–37). He was executed for high treason after the Restoration
“wind indicator,” early 15c., southern England alteration (see V) of fane.
- British pharmacologist. He shared a 1982 Nobel Prize for research on prostaglandins.
- The flattened, weblike part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the rachis.