rain English · revision 3850

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700|origins=gem-pro *regną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /reɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|rein]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|reġn|t=rain]], often contracted to rēn,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*regną]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which is also the source of Old Saxon regan, Old Frisian rein, Dutch and German regen, Old Norse regn and Gothic rign.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It has no certain cognates outside Germanic;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Watkins derives it from a presumed [[ine-pro|*reg-|t=moist, wet]], the possible source of Latin rigāre “to moisten”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) but de Vaan does not suggest Germanic cognates for the Latin word.^(Etymonline) The verb is Old English regnian, usually contracted to rīnan.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Water falling in drops from the clouds: before 725, in ''Genesis A'',^(Barnhart 1988) and about 825 in the OED,^(OED 1989) with the compound regnwyrm “earthworm” from about 700 in the earliest Latin–English glossaries.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figurative use of other things that fall in showers, such as blessings or tears, is from about 1200.^(Etymonline) In India ''the rains'' have meant the rainy season since 1616.^(OED 1989) ''To know enough to come in out of the rain'' is from the 1590s,^(Etymonline) and ''to save for a rainy day'' from the late 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Raining cats and dogs'' is first found in the mid-16th century according to the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins;^(Cresswell 2021) Etymonline dates it to 1738, and a variant with dogs and polecats to the 1650s.^(Etymonline) No convincing explanation of it has been found, and it is probably an extension of cats and dogs as proverbial for strife.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) ''Rain check'', a ticket giving a refund if a sporting event is rained off, is American, from the late 19th century,^(Cresswell 2021) ''to rain on someone's parade'' is from 1941,^(Etymonline) and the ''rain date'' from 1948.^(Etymonline) ''Rainbow'', ''raindrop'', ''rain shower'' and ''rainy'' are all Old English.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – ''regnwyrm''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 725 – rain.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1116 – Middle English rein.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – figurative showers.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1616 – the rains of India.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1738 – ''raining cats and dogs''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1769 – ''rain gauge''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1941 – ''rain on someone's parade''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Water condensed from the [[atmosphere]] and falling in drops.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A fall of such water; a [[rainstorm]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''the rains'': the rainy season in some tropical countries.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A heavy fall of anything: ''a rain of arrows''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fall in drops of water from the clouds.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To fall, or send down, in large amounts: ''to rain blows''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rainless]]

+ * [[rainlessness]]

+ * [[rainband]]

+ * [[rainmaking]]

+ * [[rainout]]

+ * [[rainspout]]

+ * [[rainsquall]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rainbow]]

+ * [[raindrop]]

+ * [[rainy]]

+ * [[irrigate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''rain'', a ridge or strip of land between fields, from 1481, survives in dialect.^(OED 1989) In Hampshire ''to rain'' was to peel bark.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}