An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

1a) General:A box or enclosed space for storing grain, coal, or the like.

1b) Electronics: In a → CCD detector, a square or rectangular group of adjacent → pixels
used collectively to transport the → electron charges.

1c) In a statistical → histogram, the range of → distribution → intervals. The bin widths (or the number of bins) affect a histogram.

2. To place in a → bin; to create → binning.

Etymology (EN): M.E. binne, O.E. binn(e) “manger, crib,” perhaps from O.Celt. *benna, akin to Welsh benn “a cart, especially one with a woven wicker body.” The same Celtic word seems to be preserved in It. benna “dung cart,” Fr. benne “a sort of box for transporting materials, especially in mines,” Du. benne “large basket,” from L.L. benna.

Etymology (PE): Bâvin “a basket, more precisely a small basket which contains the cotton to be spun;” bâvinidan infinitive from bâvin.