Dictionary

weather vane en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈwɛð.ə veɪn/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Meanings

1. A mechanical device rotating around one axis and attached to an elevated object such as a roof for showing the direction of the wind.
   • This one is surmounted by a clock-tower with a bent weather-vane - the latter being the only disorderly object in sight. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164:
   • From the graveyard gate one can count a dozen gayly painted farmhouses; the gilded weather-vanes on the big red barns wink at each other across the green and brown and yellow fields. 1913, Willa Cather, “Neighboring Fields, I”, in O Pioneers!:
2. An indicator; something that reflects what the current situation is.
   • But since this measure involves comparing the private judgments of different sets of teachers, it is less reliable as a weather vane of achievement than the results of standardized tests. 1967, United States. Congress, Congressional Record, page 16726:
   • Possibly though the best weather vane of the shippers' condition is the attitude of the mill trade as a whole toward present laxness in new orders. 1918 July 25, “General Market Conditions”, in Hardwood Record, volume 45, number 7, page 17:
   • Since Elaine Showalter's 1985 article on the topic, Ophelia has been singled out as a role that depends for its power on the expression of female sexual desire, and, because of this, one that acts as a weather vane for attitudes towards women's sexuality. 2017, Susan Shifrin, Women as Sites of Culture:
3. (figuratively) A person or organization that changes their attitude and position based on the prevailing conditions rather than displaying any conviction.
   • Laval was a political weather vane, perpetually mobile, but always resting on the same base, himself, the Talleyrand of Aubervilliers. 2003, Michael Curtis, Verdict on Vichy: Power and Prejudice in the Vichy France Regime:
   • <> repeated the federalist, appalled as always by the weather vane attitude that the Syndicate was well-known for adopting at such times, yet not letting his personal opinion transpire, <> he insisted, much to the astonishment of his interlocutor. 2011, Christopher Stewart, 2206 : Window Onto A New World, page 37:
   • The man who changes with every wind of doctrine is not a thinker but a weather vane. 1960 November 23, The Christian Century, volume 77, page 1373:

Forms

Coordinates

anemoscope · windsock

Synonyms

vane · weathercock

Translations (63)

nrf vithouette (a device showing the direction of the wind) · da vejrhane (a device showing the direction of the wind) · sh vetrokaz (a device showing the direction of the wind) · tl pabiling (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ru флю́гер (a device showing the direction of the wind) · eo ventoflago (a device showing the direction of the wind) · de Windfahne (a device showing the direction of the wind) · cs korouhev (a device showing the direction of the wind) · fi tuulikukko (cockerel-formed) (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ga coileach gaoithe (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nb vindfløy (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ota یل قوغان (a device showing the direction of the wind) · az yelqovan (a device showing the direction of the wind) · tr pinel (a device showing the direction of the wind) · tr yelkovan (a device showing the direction of the wind) · tl banoglawin (a device showing the direction of the wind) · hu szélkakas (a device showing the direction of the wind) · it banderuola (a device showing the direction of the wind) · et tuulelipp (a device showing the direction of the wind) · pl wiatrowskaz (a device showing the direction of the wind) · is vindhani (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ota پیكل (a device showing the direction of the wind) · gl catavento (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nl weerhaan (a device showing the direction of the wind) · es veleta (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ja 風見鶏 (a device showing the direction of the wind) · el ανεμοδείκτης (a device showing the direction of the wind) · cmn 風標 /风标 (a device showing the direction of the wind) · fr girouette (a device showing the direction of the wind) · br gwiblenn (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ast veleta (a device showing the direction of the wind) · pl kurek (a device showing the direction of the wind) · pt ventoinha (a device showing the direction of the wind) · sl vetrokaz (a device showing the direction of the wind) · izh lippu (a device showing the direction of the wind) · sv väderhane (a device showing the direction of the wind) · sv väderflöjel (a device showing the direction of the wind) · pt catavento (a device showing the direction of the wind) · sv vindflöjel (a device showing the direction of the wind) · it galletto segnavento (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ca penell (a device showing the direction of the wind) · sh ветроказ (a device showing the direction of the wind) · da vindfløj (a device showing the direction of the wind) · cy ceiliog gwynt (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nl windhaan (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ca gallet (a device showing the direction of the wind) · fi tuuliviiri (a device showing the direction of the wind) · gl virantenla (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ro giruetă (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nn vêrhane (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ota پینل (a device showing the direction of the wind) · gl penel (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nn vindfløy (a device showing the direction of the wind) · pt cata-vento (a device showing the direction of the wind) · tl girimpula (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nl windwijzer (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ast candonga (a device showing the direction of the wind) · mk ве́троказ (a device showing the direction of the wind) · bg ветропоказател (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ar دَوَّارَة رِيَاح (a device showing the direction of the wind) · nl windvaan (a device showing the direction of the wind) · ko 풍향계 (a device showing the direction of the wind) · de Wetterfahne (a device showing the direction of the wind)