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runes - 6 dictionary results

rune

1  [roon] ,
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–noun
1. any of the characters of certain ancient alphabets, as of a script used for writing the Germanic languages, esp. of Scandinavia and Britain, from c200 to c1200, or a script used for inscriptions in a Turkic language of the 6th to 8th centuries from the area near the Orkhon River in Mongolia.
2. something written or inscribed in such characters.
3. an aphorism, poem, or saying with mystical meaning or for use in casting a spell.
Origin:
1675–85; < ON rūn a secret, writing, runic character; c. OE rūn (ME rune, obs. E roun). See round 2

Related forms:
runelike, adjective

rune

2  [roon] ,
–noun Literary.
a poem, song, or verse.
Origin:
1865–70; < Finnish runo poem, canto < Scand. See rune 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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rune 1   (rōōn)   
n.  
    1. Any of the characters in several alphabets used by ancient Germanic peoples from the 3rd to the 13th century.
    2. A similar character in another alphabet, sometimes believed to have magic powers.
  2. A poem or incantation of mysterious significance, especially a magic charm.

[Old Norse or Old English rūn.]
Word History: Among early peoples writing was a serious thing, full of magical power. In its only reference to writing, the Iliad calls it "baneful signs." The Germanic peoples used a runic alphabet as their form of writing, using it to identify combs or helmets, make calendars, encode secret messages, and mark funeral monuments. Runes were also employed in casting spells, as to gain a kiss from a sweetheart or to make an enemy's gut burst. In casting a spell the writing of the runes was accompanied by a mumbled or chanted prayer or curse, also called a rune, to make the magic work. These two meanings also appear in Old English rūn, the ancestor of our word. The direct descendants of Old English rūn are the archaic verb round, "whisper, talk in secret," and the obsolete noun roun, "whispering, secret talk." The use of the word to refer to inscribed runic characters apparently disappeared in the late 14th or early 15th century but was revived by Danish writers on Germanic antiquities, who adopted it from Old Norse toward the end of the 17th century. Appropriately enough, this sense of rune, which had faded away like a whisper, reappeared from the mists of the past.
rune 2   (rōōn)   
n.  A Finnish poem or section of a poem.

[Finnish runo, of Germanic origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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runes

pl.n.
1. Anything that requires heavy wizardry or black art to parse: core dumps, JCL commands, APL, or code in a language you haven't a clue how to read. Not quite as bad as line noise, but close. Compare casting the runes, Great Runes.
2. Special display characters (for example, the high-half graphics on an IBM PC).
3. [borderline techspeak] 16-bit characters from the Unicode multilingual character set.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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runes
1. Anything that requires heavy wizardry or black art to parse: core dumps, JCL commands, APL or code in a language you haven't a clue how to read. Not quite as bad as line noise, but close.
Compare casting the runes, Great Runes.
2. Special display characters (for example, the high-half graphics on an IBM PC).
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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