rain

English Online Dictionary. What means rain‎? What does rain mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: rān, IPA^(key): /ɹeɪn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn
• Homophones: reign, rein

Etymology 1

From Middle English reyn, rein, from Old English reġn, from Proto-West Germanic *regn, from Proto-Germanic *regną (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.

Alternative forms

• rayne, raygne (obsolete)

Noun

rain (usually uncountable, plural rains)

2. (meteorology) Condensed water falling from a cloud.
   • 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.

Usage notes

• shower, downpour, drop are some of the words used to count rain.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hydrometeor

Derived terms

• Also see terms derived from the verb

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: alen

Translations

Verb

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.

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fall as or like rain.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To issue (something) in large quantities.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• Also see terms derived from the noun

Translations

See also

• drizzle
• hail
• mizzle
• precipitation
• serein
• shower
• sleet
• snow
• storm
• Rain on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Verb

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

1. Obsolete form of reign.

Anagrams

• Rina, rani, Irân, Nair, ARNI, Îrân, arni, NIRA, Iran, Īrān, Rian, ARIN, airn, RNAi, Rani, Irān, Arin

French

Etymology

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

rain m (plural rains)

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

References

• “rain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Japanese

Romanization

rain

1. Rōmaji transcription of ライン

Kavalan

Noun

rain

1. waves in the open sea

Middle English

Noun

rain

1. Alternative form of reyn (“rain”)

Sera

Noun

rain

1. water

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

Noun

rain

1. water

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")

Tetum

Etymology

From the Tetum noun rai.

Noun

rain

1. country