rainy English · revision 39944

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Old English|origins=ang rēnig}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɹeɪni/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|reini]], also [[m|enm|reyny]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|rēnig]], formed [[af|ang|regn|-ig]],^(ODE 2010)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(SOED 2002) that is, [[rain]] + [[-y]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) It matches [[fy|reinich]], [[dum|regenich]], [[gmh|regnic]] and [[sv|regnig]], all formed on the Germanic base of ''rain'';^(OED 2026) Wiktionary reconstructs [[gem-pro|*regnagaz]].^(Wiktionary) ''Rain'' itself is common Germanic, with no certain relatives outside it.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of weather, climate or a period of time, marked by rain: both uses go back to Old English, the first in the poem ''Wulf and Eadwacer''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Clouds or skies that bring rain are called ''rainy'' from about 1384, in the Wycliffite Bible, and a place where it often rains from before 1387.^(OED 2026) Shakespeare used it in ''Henry V'' for "done in the rain", "rainy marching in the painful field", a sense the Shorter Oxford marks as rare.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Johnson 1755) Figuratively, eyes full of tears were ''rainy'' from 1563.^(OED 2026) The ''rainy day'' of hard times, against which money is put by, is recorded by the 1570s,^(Etymonline) and the English Dialect Dictionary found the saying in use across Scotland and England.^(Wright 1898) In Cumberland a ''rainy clock'' or ''clocker'' was a beetle believed to foretell rain.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – ''rēnig'', of weather and of a time of rain.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1384 – of clouds, bringing rain.^(OED 2026)

+ * before 1387 – of a place, where rain often falls.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1563 – (figurative) of eyes, tearful.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1570s – ''rainy day'', a time of need.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1616 – done in the rain (Shakespeare).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having a lot of [[rain]]; [[wet]] or showery: ''We had a rainy week in the hills.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Of [[cloud|alt=clouds]] or the sky: bringing or full of rain.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''for a rainy day'': kept for a future time of need: ''She puts a little money aside for a rainy day.''^(Etymonline)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[raininess]]

+ * [[rainily]]

+ * [[unrainy]]

+ * [[rainy day]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rain]]

+ * [[rainfall]]

+ * [[drizzly]]

+ * [[showery]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}