Wiktionary

rain

See also: Rain, ràin, and räin

English

edit
Rain falling

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From Middle English reyn, rein, from Old English reġn, from Proto-West Germanic *regn, from Proto-Germanic *regną, of uncertain origin. Possibly from pre-Germanic *Hréǵ-no-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreǵ- (“to flow”), although the consonant reflexes don't match.

See also West Frisian rein, Dutch regen, German Regen, Danish and Norwegian regn; also Latin rigō (“wet, soak”), Lithuanian rõki (“drizzling rain”), Albanian rrjedh (“to flow, drip”).

Alternative forms

edit

Noun

edit

rain (usually uncountable, plural rains)

  2. (meteorology) 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.
  3. (figuratively) Any matter moving or falling, usually through air, and especially if liquid or otherwise figuratively identifiable with raindrops.
  4. (figuratively) An instance of particles or larger pieces of matter moving or falling through air.
    A rain of mortar fire fell on our trenches.
Usage notes
edit
Synonyms
edit
Derived terms
edit

Descendants
edit
  • Sranan Tongo: alen
Translations
edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

edit

rain (third-person singular simple present rains, present participle raining, simple past and past participle rained)

  1. (impersonal, meteorology) To have rain fall from the sky.
    Judging by the black cloud, it will rain later today.
  2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fall as or like rain.
    Tears rained from her eyes.
    Leaves rained from the tree.
    Bombs rained from the sky.
  3. (transitive, figuratively) To issue (something) in large quantities.
    The boxer rained punches on his opponent's head.
Conjugation
edit
Conjugation of rain
infinitive (to) rain
present tense past tense
1st-person singular rain rained
2nd-person singular rain, rainest† rained, rainedst†
3rd-person singular rains, raineth† rained
plural rain
subjunctive rain rained
imperative rain —
participles raining rained

† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

edit

Etymology 2

edit

Verb

edit

rain (third-person singular simple present rains, present participle raining, simple past and past participle rained)

  1. Obsolete form of reign.

Anagrams

edit

French

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle French rain, from Old Dutch *rein, *rēn, from Proto-West Germanic *rain (“raised land, baulk, ridge”), from Proto-Germanic *rainaz, *rainō (“baulk, ridge”). Cognate with Dutch reen, rein, German Rain, English rean.

Noun

edit

rain m (plural rains)

  1. (geography) a raised border on a field or forest that serves as a boundary

References

edit

Japanese

edit

Romanization

edit

rain

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ライン

Kavalan

edit

Noun

edit

rain

  1. waves in the open sea

Middle English

edit

Noun

edit

rain

  1. Alternative form of reyn (“rain”)

Sera

edit

Noun

edit

rain

  1. water

References

edit
  • 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

edit

Noun

edit

rain

  1. water

References

edit
  • 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")

Tetum

edit

Etymology

edit

From the Tetum noun rai.

Noun

edit

rain

  1. country
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=rain&oldid=84607140"