rainfall

Etymology

It is a compound from English rain + fall, of the nouns.^[2][3][4][5] The OED compares similar compounds in other Germanic languages: Dutch regenval (late 19th century), Danish regnfald and Swedish regnfall.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A type of firework that gives off a shower of sparks: 1765, in R. Jones's New Treatise on Artificial Fireworks; this sense is rare and obsolete.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The ordinary sense, falling rain or the falling of rain, is recorded from 1817, the date Merriam-Webster also gives.^[2][6] In meteorology, from 1834, it is the amount of rain that falls at a place in a given period, measured as a depth in inches or millimetres;^[2] Etymonline has this sense by 1850.^[2][4] As a count noun, a fall or shower of rain, it dates from 1855 (Etymonline: by 1858).^[2][4] The Shorter Oxford dates both current senses to the mid 19th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1765 – a firework that makes a shower of sparks (obsolete).^[2][7]
• 1817 – falling rain, rainwater.^[2][6]
• 1834 – the amount of rain falling in a period, in meteorology.^[2]
• 1850 – Etymonline's first date for the amount of rain.^[4]
• 1855 – a fall or shower of rain.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A fall or shower of rain.
2. (meteorology) The amount of precipitation that falls in a given place and time, usually measured in millimetres or inches: The region's yearly rainfall is low.

Related words

• rain
• fall
• snowfall
• downpour

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)