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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

Cain, Kain, kān, n. in old Scots law, rent paid in kind, esp. in poultry, &c.—To pay the cain, to pay the penalty.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

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

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.

Yo' see I ham 't been used t' hit down whar I lived an' I cain 't feel comfortable with a lot of machinery so close to me.

From The Boy Scout Fire Fighters by Crump, Irving

Gwyddyl, a Brython, a Romani, A wna hon dyhedd, a dyfysci; Ac am derfyn Prydein, cain ei threfi.

From Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards by Evans, Evan