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 .

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. 2024

How to use cain in a sentence

  • The moment you were to use such gains the curse of a hundred Cains would be upon you.

    The Birthright | Joseph Hocking
  • I have a delightful recollection of a bill of his in which I was charged for "fioletz," with the vague addition of "maine cains."

  • Adam was Cains father, who slew Abel; and the blood fell on the pure earth; its maidenhood was sped.

  • He spoke, and sent a dense army of ants and locusts to blight Cains cornfields.

    The Oxford Reformers | Frederic Seebohm
  • Truly, this last appeared to Cains a not unlikely consequence, but it was not his business to bring it about.

    The Mermaid | Lily Dougall

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.