noun
General Slang
linn
· noun · welsh
A pool at the foot of a waterfall — sometimes the falls themselves.
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Definitions
1
A pool of water, especially the deep one carved out at the base of a waterfall. Strongest in Scotland and Northumberland but bleeds into Welsh English too, via Welsh 'llyn'.
“We jumped off the rocks into the linn below the falls.”
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2
The waterfall itself, or the rocky ravine it runs down. Same word, the meaning slid over the centuries from the pool to the whole feature.
“You can hear the linn roaring half a mile before you see it.”
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linn In A Sentence
We jumped off the rocks into the linn below the falls.
You can hear the linn roaring half a mile before you see it.
Origin & Usage
A conflation of Old English 'hlynn' (torrent) and Celtic — Welsh 'llyn', Scots Gaelic 'linne', Irish 'linn' — all meaning pool. Lives on in place names across Britain (Linn of Dee, Lynmouth).
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