rend

Etymology

From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-Germanic *hrandijaną (“to tear”), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causative of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną (“to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- (“to hit, beat”), which would make it related to Old English hrindan (“to thrust, push”). Cognate with Scots rent (“to rend, tear”), Old Frisian renda (“to tear”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

rend (third-person singular simple present rends, present participle rending, simple past and past participle rent or rended)

1. (transitive) To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst

   Powder rends a rock in blasting.

   Lightning rends an oak.

   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2

     If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails till / Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.

   • 1970, Alvin Toffler, Future Shock, Bantam Books, pg. 317:

     We are most vulnerable now to the messages of the new subcults, to the claims and counterclaims that rend the air.

2. (transitive) To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force.
   • 1611, King James Version, Job 1:12:

     And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

3. (intransitive) To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.

   Relationships may rend if tempers flare.

Noun

rend (plural rends)

1. A violent separation of parts.
   • 2002, John S. Anderson, A Daughter of Light (page xvi)

     She'd been in a couple of minor car accidents herself, and witnessed a few others, and the rend of metal was unforgettable.

Anagrams

• NERD, dern, nerd

Etymology 1

A nasal formation from *redhë, variant of rredhë (compare edhe ~ ende). Cognate to Lithuanian rindà (“row, line”), Latvian riñda (“row, line”), Old Church Slavonic rędь (rędĭ, “row, line”). See radhë.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Albanian *renta from *rena, akin to Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (rinnan) and Old Norse rinna (“to run”)^[1].

References

Verb

rend

1. imperative of rende

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɑ̃/

Verb

rend

1. third-person singular present indicative of rendre

Etymology

From a Slavic language, ultimately from Proto-Slavic *rędъ. Compare Serbo-Croatian rȇd.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛnd]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rend

Noun

rend (plural rendek)

1. order