Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Vane
Vane
(vān)
, Noun.
1.
A contrivance attached to some elevated object for the purpose of showing which way the wind blows; a weathercock. It is usually a plate or strip of metal, or slip of wood, often cut into some fanciful form, and placed upon a perpendicular axis around which it moves freely.
Aye undiscreet, and changing as a
vane
. Chaucer.
2.
Any flat, extended surface attached to an axis and moved by the wind;
as, the
; hence, a similar fixture of any form moved in or by water, air, or other fluid; vane
of a windmillas, the
. vane
of a screw propeller, a fan blower, an anemometer, etc3.
(Zool.)
The rhachis and web of a feather taken together.
4.
One of the sights of a compass, quadrant, etc.
Webster 1828 Edition
Vane
VANE
,Noun.
A plate placed on a spindle, at the top of a spire, for the purpose of showing by its turning and direction, which way the wind blows. In ships, a piece of bunting is used for the same purpose.