amain
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /əˈmeɪn/
Audio (UK): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪn
Etymology 1
[edit]From a- (prefix with the sense ‘at; in; on; with’, used to show a state, condition, or manner) + main (“force, power, strength”).[1] Main is derived from Middle English mayn (“strength”), from Old English mæġen (“strength”),[2] from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“might, power, strength”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able”).
Adverb
[edit]amain (comparative more amain, superlative most amain)
- (archaic, literary) With all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently. [from 16th c.]
- 1567, Ovid, “The Fourteenth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 176, recto:
- And in beholding how he [the cyclops Polyphemus] fed and belked vp againe / His bloody vittels at his mouth, and vttred out amayne / The clottred gobbets mixt with wyne, I [Odysseus] thus ſurmyſde: like lot / Hangs ouer my head now, and I muſt alſo go to pot.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 27, page 430:
- So likewiſe turnde the Prince vpon the Knight, / And layd at him amaine with all his will and might.
- 1611, Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], “My Obseruations of the Most Glorious, Peerelesse, and Mayden Citie of Venice: […]”, in Coryats Crudities Hastily Gobled Vp in Five Moneths Trauells […], London: […] W[illiam] S[tansby for the author], →OCLC, pages 214–215:
- For they both ſay and beleeue that this picture hath ſo great vertue, as alſo that of Padua, whereof I haue before ſpoken, that whenſoeuer it is carried abroad in a ſolemne proceſſion in the time of a great drougth, it will cauſe raine to deſcend from heauen either before it is brought backe into the Church, or very ſhortly after. […] I cannot be induced to attribute ſo much to the vertue of a picture, as the Venetians do, except I had ſeene ſome notable miracle wrought by the ſame. For it brought no drops at all with it: onely about two dayes after it rained (I muſt needes confeſſe) amaine. But I hope they are not ſo ſuperſtitious to aſcribe that to the vertue of the picture.
- 1670, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC, page 75:
- They on the Hill, which were not yet come to blows, perceaving the fewneſs of thir Enemies, came down amain; […]
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, pages 42–43, lines 637–638:
- Under his ſpecial eie / Abſtemious I [Samson] grew up and thriv'd amain; / He led me on to mightieſt deeds / Above the nerve of mortal arm / Againſt the uncircumciſ'd, our enemies.
- 1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC:
- It [this book] ſhews too, who ſets out for life amain, / As if the laſting Crown they would attain: / Here alſo you may ſee the reaſon why / They looſe their labour, and like Fools do die.
- 1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Christabel. Part I.”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 8:
- The palfrey was as fleet as wind, / And they rode furiously behind. / They spurr'd amain, their steeds were white; / And once we cross'd the shade of night.
- 1799–1805 (dates written), William Wordsworth, “Book I. Introduction.—Childhood and School-time.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC, pages 16–17:
- Oh! when I have hung / Above the raven's nest, by knots of grass / And half-inch fissures in the slippery rock / But ill sustained, and almost (so it seemed) / Suspended by the blast which blew amain, / Shouldering the naked crag, oh at that time, / While on the perilous ridge I hung alone, / With what strange utterance did the loud dry wind / Blow through my ears!
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Albatross”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 263:
- But as the strange captain, leaning over the pallid bulwarks, was in the act of putting his trumpet to his mouth, it somehow fell from his hand into the sea; and the wind now rising amain, he in vain strove to make himself heard without it.
- 1863, Jean Ingelow, “The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire. (1571.)”, in Poems, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer, →OCLC, page 167:
- And rearing Lindis [a river] backward pressed / Shook all her trembling bankes amaine; / Then madly at the eygre's breast / Flung uppe her weltring walls again.
- (archaic) At full speed; also, in great haste. [from 16th c.]
- 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Scotlande, […]”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 189, column 1:
- At length the Danes beeing aſſayled on eche ſide, both a front before, and on their backes behinde, oppreſſed as it were wyth multitude, they threwe downe theyr weapons and fled amain.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 14, column 2:
- 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 44:
- Now when he was got up to the top of the Hill, there came two Men running againſt him amain; the name of the one was Timorous, and of the other Miſtruſt. To whom Chriſtian ſaid, Sirs, what's the matter you run the wrong way?
- 1881, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “Chimes”, in Ballads and Sonnets, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC, stanza VII, page 314, lines 5–6:
- The heavy rain it hurries amain / And heaven and the hurricane.
- (British, dialectal) Out of control.
- 1820s (date written), Anthony Errington, “Saving Men on the Waggonway”, in P. E. H. Hair, editor, Coals on Rails: Or The Reason of My Wrighting: The Autobiography of Anthony Errington, a Tyneside Colliery Waggon and Waggonway Wright, from His Birth in 1778 to around 1825 (Liverpool Historical Studies; no. 3), Liverpool: […] [F]or the Department of History, University of Liverpool [by] Liverpool University Press, published 1988, →ISBN, page 38:
- The waggonway lay near the Windmill Hills and went down the north side of the hills to the Rivir Tine, and at the Coal steath [= staithe] Mathew Gray lived. I was about hauf way down the bank when thur was two Waggons Coming after me Amain [= broken loose and running away].
- (obsolete) Exceedingly; overmuch.
- 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, pages 50–51, lines 429–431:
- Riches are mine, Fortune is in my hand; / They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, / While Virtue, Valour, Wiſdom ſit in want.
- 1819, John Keats, “Lamia”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, part II, page 36:
- The herd approach'd; each guest, with busy brain, / Arriving at the portal, gaz'd amain, / And enter'd marveling: […]
Alternative forms
[edit]- amaine (obsolete)
Related terms
[edit]- main
- mainly (“(obsolete) forcefully, vigorously”)
- might and main
Translations
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Borrowed from Spanish amainar (“to reef a sail (take in part of a sail to adapt its size to the force of the wind); to abate, die down, subside; to ease off, let up; of a person: to calm down, control one’s anger”); further etymology uncertain, probably from a regional Italian (Naples) word (compare Italian ammainare (“to lower or reef (a flag, sail, etc.)”)), from Vulgar Latin *invagīnare (“to sheathe (a sword); to put away, stow”), from Latin in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + vāgīna (“scabbard, sheath; covering, holder; vagina”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wag- (“cover; sheath”)).[3]
Verb
[edit]amain (third-person singular simple present amains, present participle amaining, simple past and past participle amained) (obsolete)
- (transitive)
- (intransitive, nautical) To lower the topsail in token of surrender; to yield.
References
[edit]- ^ “amain, adv.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
- ^ “main, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ “† amain, v.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “AMAIN, adv.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 47, column 2.
Anagrams
[edit]Norman
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Old Norse almanna (“for everyone”).
Adjective
[edit]amain m
Tagalog
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ʔamaˈʔin/ [ʔɐ.mɐˈʔin̪]
- Rhymes: -in
- Syllabification: a‧ma‧in
Noun
[edit]amaín (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜋᜁᜈ᜔)
- uncle
- stepfather
- Synonyms: amang-panguman, padrastro, tiyuhin, tiyo, tiyong
Coordinate terms
[edit]Yola
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English amen, from Old English [Term?], from Latin āmēn.
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]amain
References
[edit]- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 22
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/eɪn
- Rhymes:English/eɪn/2 syllables
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *megʰ-
- English terms prefixed with a-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English adverbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- English literary terms
- English terms with quotations
- British English
- English dialectal terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wag-
- English terms borrowed from Spanish
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English verbs
- English obsolete terms
- English transitive verbs
- en:Nautical
- English intransitive verbs
- Norman terms borrowed from Old Norse
- Norman terms derived from Old Norse
- Norman lemmas
- Norman adjectives
- Jersey Norman
- Tagalog 3-syllable words
- Tagalog terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Tagalog/in
- Rhymes:Tagalog/in/3 syllables
- Tagalog terms with mabilis pronunciation
- Tagalog lemmas
- Tagalog nouns
- Tagalog terms with Baybayin script
- tl:Family
- Yola terms inherited from Middle English
- Yola terms derived from Middle English
- Yola terms inherited from Old English
- Yola terms derived from Old English
- Yola terms derived from Latin
- Yola terms with IPA pronunciation
- Yola lemmas
- Yola interjections