Open main menu
Wiktionary

rain

EnglishEdit

Rain falling

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

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.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

rain (usually uncountable, plural rains)

  1. 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)
  2. (figuratively) Any matter moving or falling, usually through air, and especially if liquid or otherwise figuratively identifiable with raindrops.
  3. (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 notesEdit

Alternative formsEdit

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Terms derived from the noun rain

DescendantsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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

VerbEdit

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

  1. (impersonal) To have rain fall from the sky.
    It will rain today.
  2. (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.
  3. (transitive) To issue (something) in large quantities.
    The boxer rained punches on his opponent's head.
  4. (obsolete) To reign.
    • Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, Book I, canto V.
      Such wondrous science in mans witt to rain.

Derived termsEdit

Terms derived from the verb to rain

TranslationsEdit

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

See alsoEdit

AnagramsEdit

JapaneseEdit

RomanizationEdit

rain

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ライン

KavalanEdit

NounEdit

rain

  1. waves in the open sea

SeraEdit

NounEdit

rain

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

  • Terry Crowley, Claire Bowern, An Introduction to Historical Linguistics (2010, →ISBN, page 333
  • Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)

SissanoEdit

NounEdit

rain

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

  • 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")
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=rain&oldid=54096069"