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• cain
  cain

  noun

  rent paid in kind, especially a percentage of a farm crop.
• Cain
  Cain

  noun

  (in the Bible) the first son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel.

cain

¹ American  

[keyn] / keɪn /

Scot., kane

noun

Scot. and Irish English.

1. rent paid in kind, especially a percentage of a farm crop.

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Cain ² American  

[keyn] / keɪn /

noun

1. (in the Bible) the first son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel.

2. a murderer.

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idioms

1. raise Cain,

   1. become angry or violent.

      He'll raise Cain when he finds out I lost his watch.

   2. to behave in a boisterous manner; cause a disturbance.

      The students raised Cain while the teacher was out.

Cain ³ American  

[keyn] / keɪn /

noun

1. James M., 1892–1977, U.S. novelist.

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Cain ¹ British  

/ keɪn /

noun

1. the first son of Adam and Eve, who killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4:1–16)

2. 1. to cause a commotion

   2. to react or protest heatedly

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cain ² British  

/ keɪn /

noun

1. history (in Scotland and Ireland) payment in kind, usually farm produce paid as rent

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Cain More Idioms  

1. see raise Cain.

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Other Word Forms

• Cainism
  noun
• Cainitic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of cain

Middle English ( Scots ) cane, from Scots Gaelic; compare Old Irish cáin “statute, law, rent”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cain Cain

Dungalach, son of Faelghus, Grandson of just Nadfraech, Was the first who transgressed Patrick's cain from the beginning.

From The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick Including the Life by Jocelin, Hitherto Unpublished in America, and His Extant Writings by O'Leary, James

You ought to see him raising cain over his mask being lost.

From Jimmy Kirkland and the Plot for a Pennant by Fullerton, Hugh S.

We nearly had him, but he deserted and got across the line, and since then he has been raising all kinds of cain in government affairs.

From The Thunder Bird by Bower, B. M.

It had been there two weeks, and he didn't know what in cain to do with it.

From Tempest and Sunshine by Holmes, Mary Jane

If she were here, and I went on raising cain like I been doing, she'd have a fit.

From Babbitt by Lewis, Sinclair

At one event, in which Oz was interviewed by Dean Cain, an actor who played Superman in a 1990s television show, about 50 people listened in as Oz droned on about an anti-fraud task force.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

Veda’s story unfolds in “Mildred Pierce,” the classic James M. Cain novel and 1945 Joan Crawford film.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

An adaptation of the 1941 novel by James M. Cain, directed by Michael Curtiz, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture, with Crawford winning for her lead performance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026

“Half of college graduates in New York City are either foreign born or come from immigrant households,” Miller told Fox’s Will Cain.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

There were certain things she’d never tell anyone, and she hadn’t mentioned Cain or the creature, either.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas