cain

[ keyn ]

nounScot. and Irish English.
  1. rent paid in kind, especially a percentage of a farm crop.

Origin of cain

1
Middle English (Scots ) cane, from Scots Gaelic; compare Old Irish cáin “statute, law, rent”
  • Also Scot., kane .

Words Nearby cain

Other definitions for Cain (2 of 3)

Cain1
[ keyn ]

noun
  1. the first son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel. Genesis 4.

  2. a murderer.

Other words from Cain

  • Cainism, noun
  • Cain·it·ic [key-nit-ik], /keɪˈnɪt ɪk/, adjective

Other definitions for Cain (3 of 3)

Cain2
[ keyn ]

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cain in a sentence

  • In one of them, descriptive of antediluvial history, is a painting of Lamech shooting cain with a bow and arrow.

  • At the touch, brutus trembled with hate; at the order, his countenance fell like cain's.

  • That was what Chrysophrasia meant with her disgusting personalities about cain and Abel.

    Paul Patoff | F. Marion Crawford
  • Again, if discussion was fruitful of results with Abel, must it be the same with cain?

  • When the light held out until late, they had time to visit old Paris with the books of Georges cain for guides.

    Paris Vistas | Helen Davenport Gibbons

British Dictionary definitions for cain (1 of 2)

cain

kain

/ (keɪn) /


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

Origin of cain

1
C12: from Scottish Gaelic cāin rent, perhaps ultimately from Late Latin canōn tribute (see canon); compare Middle Irish cāin law

British Dictionary definitions for Cain (2 of 2)

Cain

/ (keɪn) /


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

  2. raise Cain

    • to cause a commotion

    • to react or protest heatedly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with cain

cain

see raise Cain.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.