RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is

See also:

• COMMON

common to

See also:

• TEUTONIC
• TEUTONIC (GERMANIC) LANGUAGES

Teutonic

See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and

See also:

• DAN

Dan. regn; it has been connected with

See also:

• LAT

Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)  , the water vapour of the atmosphere when condensed into drops large enough to be precipitated upon the earth . Hence the term is extended to signify the fall of such drops in a shower, and in the plural, " the rains," it signifies the rainy seasons in India and elsewhere where under normal climatic conditions such seasons are clearly distinguished from the dry . A rain-band is " a dark band in the solar spectrum, caused by the presence of water-vapour in the atmosphere " (New Engl . Diet.) ; a rain-gauge is an instrument used to measure the amount of rainfall (see METEOROLOGY, where the whole subject of precipitation is fully treated) .