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chain . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
chain , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
chain in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
chain you have here. The definition of the word
chain will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
chain , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
A metal chain
A chain of daisies
Molecular chain for acrylic
Etymology
From Middle English cheyne , chaine , from Old French chaine , chaene ( “ chain ” ) , from Latin catēna ( “ chain ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *kat- ( “ to braid, twist; hut, shed ” ) . Doublet of catena .
Pronunciation
Noun
chain (plural chains )
A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.
He wore a gold chain around the neck.
The anchor is connected to the boat with a 100-metre long chain .
A series of interconnected things.
a chain of mountains
a chain of ideas, one leading to the next
This led to an unfortunate chain of events.
A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name .
That chain of restaurants is expanding into our town.
( organic chemistry , physical chemistry ) A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule .
When examined, the molecular chain included oxygen and hydrogen.
( surveying ) A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.
( surveying ) A long measuring tape .
A unit of length , exactly equal to 22 yards , 4 rods or 100 links , and approximately equal to 20.12 metres ; the length of a Gunter's surveying chain ; the length of a cricket pitch .
1938 , Xavier Herbert , chapter X, in Capricornia , New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943 , page 177 :"But it's too far—must be a quarter of a mile—and I've a portmanteau to carry." [ …] "Garn!" shouted the guard. "Taint ten chain . [ …] "
( mathematics , set theory , order theory) A totally ordered set , especially a totally ordered subset of a poset .
2003 , Jeremy P. Spinrad, Efficient Graph Representations , American Mathematical Society , page 108 :We first find an approximation of the chain partition, i.e. a small but not minimum size set of chains which cover all elements of the poset.
( algebraic topology , originally) A formal sum of cells in a CW complex of a certain dimension k (in which case the formal sums are called k -chains ); a formal sum of simplices or cubes of a certain dimension in a simplical complex or cubical complex (respectively).
( algebraic topology , homological algebra , more generally) An element of a group (or module) in a chain complex .
( British ) A sequence of linked house purchases , each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out ).
That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.
the chains of habit
( nautical , in the plural ) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.
A livery collar , a chain of office .
c. 1587–1588 , [Christopher Marlowe ], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592 , →OCLC ; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973 , →ISBN , Act I, scene ii :And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords And either lanch his greedie thirſting throat, Or take him priſoner, and his chaine ſhall ſerue For Manackles, till he be ranſom’d home.
( weaving ) The warp threads of a web .
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
series of interconnected rings or links
Afrikaans: huidige (af)
Albanian: varesë , hallkë (sq) , zinxhir (sq) m
Arabic: سِلْسِلَة f ( silsila )
Egyptian Arabic: سلسلة f ( silsila )
Armenian: շղթա (hy) ( šġtʻa )
Aromanian: cadenã f , catinã , chiustecã , alis , alsidã , singir , silivar
Assamese: শিকলি ( xikoli )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܝܼܫܸܠܬܵܐ f ( šīšiltā )
Asturian: cadena f
Azerbaijani: cari (az) , zəncir (az)
Bashkir: сынйыр ( sınyır ) , сылбыр ( sılbır )
Basque: kate
Belarusian: ланцу́г m ( lancúh )
Bengali: শৃঙ্খল (bn) ( sriṅkhol )
Breton: chadenn (br) f
Bulgarian: вери́га (bg) f ( veríga )
Burmese: ကြိုး (my) ( krui: ) , သံကြိုး (my) ( samkrui: )
Catalan: cadena (ca) f
Cebuano: kadena , talikala
Chechen: зӏе ( zˀe )
Cherokee: ᎤᎾᏓᏕᏒᏓ ( unadadesvda )
Chinese:
Dungan: лянзы ( li͡anzɨ )
Mandarin: 鏈 / 链 (zh) ( liàn ) , 鏈子 / 链子 (zh) ( liànzi ) , 鏈條 / 链条 (zh) ( liàntiáo )
Czech: řetěz (cs) m
Dalmatian: cataina f
Danish: kæde c
Dutch: ketting (nl) f , keten (nl) f , aaneenrijging (nl) f
Esperanto: ĉeno
Estonian: kett (et)
Faroese: keta f
Finnish: ketju (fi) , kettinki (fi) , vitja (fi)
French: chaîne (fr) f
Friulian: cjadene f , čhadene f
Galician: cadea (gl) f
Georgian: ჯაჭვი (ka) ( ǯač̣vi )
German: Kette (de) f
Greek: αλυσίδα (el) f ( alysída ) , άλυσος (el) f ( álysos )
Ancient: ἅλυσις f ( hálusis )
Hebrew: שַׁרְשֶׁרֶת (he) f ( sharshéret )
Hindi: सिलसिला (hi) m ( silsilā ) , ज़ंजीर f ( zañjīr ) , श्रृंखला m ( śrŕṅkhlā )
Hungarian: lánc (hu)
Icelandic: keðja (is) f
Ido: kateno (io)
Indonesian: rantai (id)
Ingrian: tseppi
Ingush: зӏи ( zˀi )
Interlingua: catena
Irish: slabhra (ga) m
Italian: catena (it) f
Japanese: 鎖 (ja) ( くさり, kusari ) , チェーン (ja) ( chēn )
Kalmyk: шинҗүр ( şinjür )
Kazakh: шынжыр ( şynjyr ) , тізбек ( tızbek )
Khmer: ច្រវាក់ (km) ( crɑvak )
Korean: 사슬 (ko) ( saseul ) , 체인 (ko) ( chein )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: زنجیر ( zincîr )
Northern Kurdish: zincîr (ku)
Kyrgyz: чынжыр (ky) ( cınjır ) , тизмек (ky) ( tizmek )
Lao: ໂສ້ (lo) ( sō )
Latgalian: važa f , ( only plural ) karški pl
Latin: catēna (la) f , vinculum n
Latvian: ķēde f
Lezgi: зунжур ( zunžur )
Lithuanian: grandinė (lt) f
Macedonian: ланец m ( lanec ) , синџир m ( sindžir ) , верига f ( veriga )
Malay: rantai (ms)
Malayalam: ചങ്ങല (ml) ( caṅṅala )
Manx: geuley
Maori: mekameka
Middle English: cheyne , raketeye
Mongolian: гинж (mn) ( ginž )
Nahuatl: tepozmecatl (nah) , cadena
Navajo: béésh daʼahólzhaʼí
Norman: chaîne f ( Jersey )
Norwegian: kjede (no) n , kjetting (no) m , lenke (no) m or f
Occitan: cadena (oc) f
Old English: racente f
Old Galician-Portuguese: cadẽa f
Ottoman Turkish: زنجیر ( zincir ) , سلسله ( silsile )
Pashto: زنځير (ps) m ( zanjír )
Persian: زنجیر (fa) ( zanjir, zenjir )
Plautdietsch: Kjäd f
Polish: łańcuch (pl) m
Portuguese: cadeia (pt) f , corrente (pt) f
Romanian: lanț (ro)
Romansch: chadaina f , cadeina f , cadagna f , chadagna f
Russian: цепь (ru) f ( cepʹ ) , цепо́чка (ru) f ( cepóčka ) , ланцу́г (ru) m ( lancúg ) ( regional )
Scottish Gaelic: cuibhreach m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ланац m , веруга f , верига f , вериге f pl
Latin: lanac (sh) m , veruga (sh) f , veriga (sh) f , verige (sh) f pl
Sicilian: catina (scn) f
Sinhalese: ඇකිල්ල ( ækilla )
Slovak: reťaz m
Slovene: veriga (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: rjeśaz m
Spanish: cadena (es) f
Swahili: bangili (sw) , mnyororo class 3 /4
Swedish: kedja (sv) c
Tagalog: kadena , tanikala
Tajik: занҷир ( zanjir )
Tatar: чылбыр (tt) ( çılbır )
Telugu: గొలుసు (te) ( golusu )
Thai: โซ่ (th) ( sôo )
Turkish: zincir (tr)
Turkmen: zynjyr (tk)
Tzotzil: karina
Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎌𐎗𐎚 ( ššrt )
Ukrainian: ланцю́г m ( lancjúh ) , ланцюжо́к m ( lancjužók )
Urdu: سلسلہ m ( silsila ) , زنجیر f ( zanjīr )
Uyghur: زەنجىر ( zenjir )
Uzbek: zanjir (uz) , tizma (uz)
Venetian: cadéna f , caéna f
Vietnamese: dây xích (vi) (絏䤲 ), xích (vi) (䤲 )
Walloon: tchinne (wa) f
Welsh: cadwyn (cy) f
Yiddish: קייט f ( keyt )
series of interconnected things
Arabic: سِلْسِلَة f ( silsila )
Armenian: շղթա (hy) ( šġtʻa )
Asturian: cadena f
Breton: chadenn (br) f
Bulgarian: вери́га (bg) f ( veríga ) , поре́дица (bg) f ( porédica )
Catalan: cadena (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 連鎖 / 连锁 (zh) ( liánsuǒ ) , 环节 (zh) ( huánjié )
Czech: řetěz (cs) m , řetězec (cs) m , zřetězení n (fig.)
Dutch: aaneenschakeling (nl) f , opeenvolging (nl) f
Estonian: ahel
Finnish: ketju (fi)
French: chaîne (fr) f
Galician: cadea (gl) f
Georgian: ჯაჭვი (ka) ( ǯač̣vi )
German: Kette (de) f
Greek: αλυσίδα (el) f ( alysída ) , σειρά (el) f ( seirá )
Hebrew: שרשרת (he) f ( sharshéret )
Hungarian: sor (hu) , sorozat (hu) , láncolat (hu)
Indonesian: mata rantai (id)
Italian: catena (it) f
Japanese: 連続 (ja) ( れんぞく, renzoku ) , 連鎖 (ja) ( れんさ, rensa )
Macedonian: ланец m ( lanec )
Malay: rentetan
Malayalam: ശൃംഖല (ml) ( śr̥ṅkhala )
Maori: raupapa
Mongolian: сүлжээ (mn) ( sülžee )
Norman: chaîne f
Norwegian: rekke (no) m or f
Occitan: cadena (oc) f
Ottoman Turkish: سلسله ( silsile )
Polish: łańcuch (pl) m
Portuguese: cadeia (pt) f
Romanian: lanț (ro)
Russian: цепь (ru) f ( cepʹ ) , после́довательность (ru) f ( poslédovatelʹnostʹ ) , се́рия (ru) f ( sérija )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ланац m
Latin: lanac (sh) m
Slovene: veriga (sl) f
Spanish: cadena (es) f
Swahili: ushanga (sw)
Swedish: kedja (sv) c
Ukrainian: послідо́вність (uk) f ( poslidóvnistʹ ) , се́рія f ( sérija )
Venetian: caéna f , cadéna f , caena (vec) f , cadena (vec) f
Vietnamese: chuỗi (vi) (𠁻 )
that which confines, fetters
series of stores or businesses with the same brand name
surveying: series of interconnected links as a measuring device
surveying: long measuring tape
sequence of linked house purchases
Translations to be checked
Verb
chain (third-person singular simple present chains , present participle chaining , simple past and past participle chained )
( transitive ) To fasten something with a chain.
You should chain your bicycle to the railings to protect it from being stolen.
( figurative ) To connect as if with a chain, due to dependence, addiction, or other feelings
Sometimes I feel like I'm chained to this computer.
She's been chained to her principles since she was 18, it's unlikely you can convince her otherwise.
( intransitive ) To link multiple items together.
( transitive ) To secure someone with fetters .
( transitive ) To obstruct the mouth of a river etc with a chain.
( figurative ) To obligate .
2017 August 13, Brandon Nowalk, “Oldtown offers one last game-changing secret as Game Of Thrones goes behind enemy lines (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club :I miss when Game Of Thrones was wide open, but even then, the writers were chained to a narrative they didn’t yet know the ending of and feared straying too far from.
( computing ) To relate data items with a chain of pointers .
( computing ) To be chained to another data item.
2016 January 15, Mark Papadakis, “Coroutines and Fibers. Why and When”, in Medium :You don’t need to maintain state, or partition execution into different objects that then you can chain together (one executes the other on completion — chained continuations).
( transitive ) To measure a distance using a 66-foot long chain, as in land surveying .
1887 , Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia , page 99 :As the line was surveyed - a sufficient length being first chained by a surveyor, who was followed by axemen - trees had to be felled and a certain width maintained, which was specified in the contract, for drays had to follow, and the trees might have fallen upon the line and broken it down at the very outset.
( transitive , computing , rare , associated with Acorn Computers ) To load and automatically run (a program).
1996 , Mr D Walsh, “Running two programs from a batch file”, in comp.sys.acorn.misc (Usenet ):How do you get one program to chain another? I want to run DrawWorks2 then !Draw but as soon as you run Drawworks2 it finishes the batch file and doesn't go on to the next instruction! Is there a way without loading one of these automatic loaders?
1998 , Juan Flynn, “BBC software transmitted on TV - how to load?”, in comp.sys.acorn.misc (Usenet ):You can do LOAD "" or CHAIN "" to load or chain the next program if I remember correctly (it's been a loooong time since I've used a tape on an Acorn!)
2006 , Richard Porter, “SpamStamp double headers”, in comp.sys.acorn.apps (Usenet ):Recent versions of AntiSpam no longer use the Config file but have a Settings file instead, so when I updated the Config file to chain SpamStamp it had no effect as it was a redundant file.
Derived terms
Translations
to secure someone with fetters
computing: to relate data items with a chain of pointers
to be chained to another data item
to measure a distance using a chain
References
“chain ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
“chain ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
OED 2nd edition 1989
Further reading
Anagrams
Welsh
Pronunciation
Adjective
chain
Aspirate mutation of cain .
Mutation