Rain (rn), n. & v. Reign. [Obs.] Spenser.
Rain (rn), n. [OE. rein, AS. regen; akin to OFries. rein, D. & G.
regen, OS. & OHG. regan, Icel., Dan., & Sw. regn, Goth. rign, and prob.
to L. rigare to water, to wet; cf. Gr. bre`chein to wet, to rain.]
Water falling in drops from the clouds; the descent of water from the
clouds in drops.
Rain is water by the heat of the sun divided into very small parts
ascending in the air, till, encountering the cold, it be condensed
into clouds, and descends in drops.
Ray.
Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.
Milton.
Rain is distinguished from mist by the size of the drops, which are
distinctly visible. When water falls in very small drops or particles,
it is called mist; and fog is composed of particles so fine as to be
not only individually indistinguishable, but to float or be suspended
in the air. See Fog, and Mist.
Rain band (Meteorol.), a dark band in the yellow portion of the solar
spectrum near the sodium line, caused by the presence of watery vapor
in the atmosphere, and hence sometimes used in weather predictions. --
Rain bird (Zoöl.), the yaffle, or green woodpecker. [Prov. Eng.] The
name is also applied to various other birds, as to Saurothera vetula of
the West Indies. -- Rain fowl (Zoöl.), the channel-bill cuckoo
(Scythrops Novæ-Hollandiæ) of Australia. -- Rain gauge, an instrument
of various forms for measuring the quantity of rain that falls at any
given place in a given time; a pluviometer; an ombrometer. -- Rain
goose (Zoöl.), the red-throated diver, or loon. [Prov. Eng.] -- Rain
prints (Geol.), markings on the surfaces of stratified rocks,
presenting an appearance similar to those made by rain on mud and sand,
and believed to have been so produced. -- Rain quail. (Zoöl.) See
Quail, n., 1. -- Rain water, water that has fallen from the clouds in
rain.
Rain, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rained (rnd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raining.] [AS.
regnian, akin to G. regnen, Goth. rignjan. See Rain, n.] 1. To fall in
drops from the clouds, as water; -- used mostly with it for a
nominative; as, it rains.
The rain it raineth every day.
Shak.
2. To fall or drop like water from the clouds; as, tears rained from
their eyes.
Rain (rn), v. t. 1. To pour or shower down from above, like rain from
the clouds.
Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven for you.
Ex. xvi. 4.
2. To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain favors upon a
person.
Rain"bow` (-b`), n. [AS. regenboga, akin to G. regenbogen. See Rain,
and Bow anything bent.] A bow or arch exhibiting, in concentric bands,
the several colors of the spectrum, and formed in the part of the
hemisphere opposite to the sun by the refraction and reflection of the
sun's rays in drops of falling rain.
Besides the ordinary bow, called also primary rainbow, which is formed
by two refractions and one reflection, there is also another often seen
exterior to it, called the secondary rainbow, concentric with the
first, and separated from it by a small interval. It is formed by two
refractions and two reflections, is much fainter than the primary bow,
and has its colors arranged in the reverse order from those of the
latter.
Lunar rainbow, a fainter arch or rainbow, formed by the moon. -- Marine
rainbow, or Sea bow, a similar bow seen in the spray of waves at sea.
-- Rainbow trout (Zoöl.), a bright-colored trout (Salmo irideus),
native of the mountains of California, but now extensively introduced
into the Eastern States, Japan, and other countries; -- called also
brook trout, mountain trout, and golden trout. -- Rainbow wrasse.
(Zoöl.) See under Wrasse. -- Supernumerary rainbow, a smaller bow,
usually of red and green colors only, sometimes seen within the primary
or without the secondary rainbow, and in contact with them.
Rain"bowed` (-bd`), a. Formed with or like a rainbow.