rein
see also: Rein, REIN
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English rein, reyne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman resne, from la-eme retina, ultimately from Classical Latin retineō, from re- + teneō.

Displaced native Old English ġewealdleþer (literally “control leather”).

Noun

rein (plural reins)

  1. A strap or rope attached to a bridle or bit, used to control a horse, animal or young child.
  2. (figurative) An instrument or means of curbing, restraining, or governing.
    The government is attempting to keep a rein on rising prices.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
      Let their eyes rove without rein.
Translations Verb

rein (reins, present participle reining; simple past and past participle reined)

  1. (transitive) To direct or stop a horse by using reins.
    • [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC ↗; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC ↗:
      He mounts and reins his horse.
      The spelling has been modernized.
  2. (transitive) To restrain; to control; to check.
    • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene iii]:
      Being once chafed, he cannot / Be reined again to temperance.
    • 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:
      After an interval that he judged to have lasted twenty minutes, the bed began to shake with poorly reined sobs.
  3. (intransitive) To obey directions given with the reins.
    • 2011, Marie Claire Peck, Rocking Horse Ranch, page 40:
      She worked each horse at a walk, trot, and then a canter. The horses reined well and executed stops quickly.
Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman - reines, Middle French reins, and their source, Latin rēnēs.

Noun

rein (plural reins)

  1. (now rare, archaic, chiefly in plural) A kidney.
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC ↗:
      a man subject to these like imaginations […] hath often the stone imaginarily, before he have it in his reines […].
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Lamentations 3:13 ↗:
      He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
  2. The inward impulses; the affections and passions, formerly supposed to be located in the area of the kidneys.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Proverbs 23:16 ↗:
      My reins rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Revelation 2:23 ↗:
      I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts.

Rein
Etymology
  • As a German surname, borrowed from German Rein, comparable to the first element of several surnames such as Reinhardt, Reinbold, etc.
  • As an English surname, variant of Rain. Possibly also a habitational surname related to Rhine.
Proper noun
  1. Surname.

REIN
Noun

rein (uncountable)

  1. (telecommunication) Acronym of repetitive electrical impulse noise
    Coordinate term: SHINE



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