vata-, Hittite huwantis, L. ventus, O.C.S. vetru, Lith. vejas "wind;" Lith. vetra "tempest, storm;" O.Ir. feth "air;" Welsh gwynt, Bret. gwent "wind"). Normal pronunciation evolution made this word rhyme with kind and rind (Donne rhymes it with mind), but shifted to a short vowel 18c., probably from influence of windy, where the short vowel is natural. A sad loss for poets, who now must rhyme it only with sinned and a handful of weak words. Symbolic of emptiness and vanity since c.1290.
"I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind." [Ernest Dowson, 1896]
To get wind of "receive information about" is recorded from 1809, perhaps from Fr. avoir le vent de. Wind-chill index is recorded from 1939. The verb meaning "tire, put out of breath" is attested from 1811
wind"move by turning and twisting," O.E. windan "to turn, twist, wind" (class III strong verb; past tense wand, pp. wunden), from P.Gmc. *wendanan (cf. O.S. windan, O.N. vinda, O.Fris. winda, Du. winden, O.H.G. wintan, Ger. winden, Goth. windan "to wind"), from PIE *wendh- "to turn, wind, weave" (cf. L.
viere "twist, plait, weave," vincire "bind," Lith. vyti "twist, wind"). Related to
wend, which is its causative form, and to
wander. Wind down "come to a conclusion" is recorded from 1952; wind up "come to a conclusion" is from 1825. Winding sheet "shroud of a corpse" is attested from c.1420.