The plural of gin; either multiple cotton-ginning machines or alcoholic beverages made from grain and flavored with juniper berries.
Two distinct etymologies: (1) Cotton gin from 'engine' (shortened), and (2) the drink from Dutch 'jenever' (juniper), which gave English 'gin.' Both are ancient words in their respective domains.
It's remarkable that the word 'gin' has two completely unrelated meanings—one industrial, one alcoholic—and both became enormously important to English-speaking societies, just in different ways and places.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.