winnowing fan

English
a modern version of a winnowing fan

Noun

winnowing fan (plural winnowing fans)

  1. A fan used while winnowing to separate the chaff from the grain.
    • 1908, Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion‎, page 529:
      The wind is the natural winnower, but man can help the wind by exposing the mixed chaff and grain. This he throws up on the winnowing fan against the wind, the wind blows away the chaff and the heavier grain falls to the ground. The best instrument with which to do this is naturally an oar-like pole, broadened at the end to serve as a shovel. Such an instrument was the πτύον (ptúon) or winnowing fan

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