n. hist. 1 esp. Sc. a skilled farm-worker, usu. married and with a tied cottage, and formerly having charge of two horses. 2 a steward on a farm. 3 a rustic, a boor.
[ ME hine f. OE hine (pl.) app. f. hi(g)na genit. pl. of higan, hiwan 'members of a family' (cf. HIDE(3)): for -d cf. SOUND(1) ]