rain
English
Alternative forms
- rayne (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English reyn, rein, from Old English rēn, reġn (“rain”), from Proto-Germanic *regnaz (“rain”) (compare West Frisian rein, Dutch regen, German Regen, Danish and Norwegian regn), of uncertain origin. Possibly from pre-Germanic *Hréǵ-no-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreǵ- (“to flow”) (compare Latin rigō (“wet, soak”), Lithuanian rõki (“drizzling rain”), Albanian rrjedh (“to flow, drip”)), although the consonant reflexes don't match.
Pronunciation
Noun
rain (usually uncountable, plural rains)
- Condensed water falling from a cloud.
- We've been having a lot of rain lately.
- The rains came late that year.
- 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- This process involves cloud seeding – when various substances are put into clouds in an attempt to cause rain.
Audio (US) (file)
- This process involves cloud seeding – when various substances are put into clouds in an attempt to cause rain.
- (figuratively) Any matter moving or falling, usually through air, and especially if liquid or otherwise figuratively identifiable with raindrops.
- (figuratively) An instance of particles or larger pieces of matter moving or falling through air.
- A rain of mortar fire fell on our trenches.
Alternative forms
- raygne (obsolete)
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:hydrometeor
Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun rain
Descendants
- Sranan Tongo: alen
Translations
condensed water from a cloud
|
|
any matter falling
an instance of particles falling
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
rain (third-person singular simple present rains, present participle raining, simple past and past participle rained)
- (impersonal) To have rain fall from the sky.
- It will rain today.
- (intransitive) To fall as or like rain.
- It will rain fire and brimstone at the end of days.
- Shakespeare
- The rain it raineth every day.
- Tears rained from her eyes.
- Leaves rained from the tree.
- Bombs rained from the sky.
- (transitive) To issue (something) in large quantities.
- The boxer rained punches on his opponent's head.
- (obsolete) To reign.
- Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, Book I, canto V.
- Such wondrous science in mans witt to rain.
- Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, Book I, canto V.
Derived terms
Terms derived from the verb to rain
Translations
of rain: to fall from the sky
|
|
to fall in large quantities
|
|
to issue in large quantities
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
Sera
References
- Terry Crowley, Claire Bowern, An Introduction to Historical Linguistics (2010, →ISBN, page 333
- Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)
Sissano
References
- Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)
- John Nystrom, Sissano Organised Phonology Data (1992) (as rayn several times in a story; compare ranrayn "wet")
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.