rhine

R1H4I1N1E1
/ɹaɪn/

noun

A watercourse; a ditch for water.

OriginOld English ryne →
Less commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

rhine1

nounrhine (plural rhines)

plural rhines · alternative rean

  1. UKdialectalA watercourse; a ditch for water.

    the Black Ditch and the Langmoor Rhine

    1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC
  2. A running waterway that links a ditch or stream to a river.

Rhine2

proper nounthe Rhine
  1. A major river in western Europe, which flows through Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, France and the Netherlands, before emptying into the North Sea.

    Roads on either side of the river Rhine will be closed as authorities seal off the large evacuation zone. The Unesco World Heritage Cologne Cathedral sits just outside the area.

    2025 June 4, Alex Croft, “Around 20,000 evacuated in Cologne as major bomb defusal operation underway”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2025, retrieved 20 Feb 2026

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
river

Origin

rhine · noun

  1. Old Englishryne
  2. Englishrhine

From Old English ryne. See run.

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhine · proper noun

  1. FrenchRhin
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₃reyH-“to move, flow, run”
  3. Proto-Celtic*reinos
  4. GaulishRēnos
  5. Proto-Germanic*Rīnaz
  6. Proto-West Germanic*Rīn
  7. Old High GermanRīn
  8. Old EnglishRīn“the Rhine”
  9. Middle EnglishRine
  10. EnglishRhine

From Middle English Rine, Ryne, from Old English Rīn (“the Rhine”), from Middle High German and Old High German Rīn, from Proto-West Germanic *Rīn, from Proto-Germanic *Rīnaz, from Gaulish Rēnos, from a Pre-Celtic or Proto-Celtic *reinos; one of a class of river names built from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to move, flow, run”). Cognate with Old High German Rīn ("the Rhine"; > German Rhein), Old Norse Rín (“the Rhine”), Dutch Rijn (“the Rhine”). Related also to Latin rivus ("river"), in Celtic with an -n- suffix as in Old Irish rīan (“run”) (more at run). The spelling with Rh- is due to the influence of Ancient Greek Ῥῆνος (Rhênos) (via French Rhin).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Old High German

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Ryn
  • Rynriver that flows through Europe
Ancient Greek Ῥῆνος
  • Ῥῆνος (Rhênos)river that flows through Europe
Arabic نَهْر اَلرَّايْن
  • نَهْر اَلرَّايْن (nahr ar-rayn)river that flows through Europe
Basque Rhin
  • Rhinriver that flows through Europe
Bulgarian Рейн
  • Рейн (Rejn)river that flows through Europe
Catalan Rin
  • Rinriver that flows through Europe
Chinese Mandarin 萊茵河 /莱茵河
  • 萊茵河 /莱茵河 (Láiyīn hé)river that flows through Europe
Czech Rýn
  • Rýnriver that flows through Europe
Danish Rhinen
  • Rhinenriver that flows through Europe
Dutch Rijn
  • Rijnriver that flows through Europe
Esperanto Rejno
  • Rejnoriver that flows through Europe
Estonian Rein
  • Reinriver that flows through Europe
Finnish Rein
  • Reinriver that flows through Europe
French Rhin
  • Rhinriver that flows through Europe
German Rhein
  • Rheinriver that flows through Europe
Greek Ρήνος
  • Ρήνος (Rínos)river that flows through Europe
Hebrew ריין
  • רייןriver that flows through Europe
Hindi राइन
  • राइन (rāin)river that flows through Europe
Hungarian Rajna
  • Rajnariver that flows through Europe
Icelandic Rín
  • Rínriver that flows through Europe
Indonesian Rhein
  • Rheinriver that flows through Europe
Irish Réin
  • Réinriver that flows through Europe
Italian Reno
  • Renoriver that flows through Europe
Japanese ライン川
  • ライン川 (Rain-gawa)river that flows through Europe
Korean 라인 강
  • 라인 강river that flows through Europe
Latin Rhēnus
  • Rhēnusriver that flows through Europe
Latvian Reina
  • Reinariver that flows through Europe
Lithuanian Reinas
  • Reinasriver that flows through Europe
Malay Rhine
  • Rhineriver that flows through Europe
Norwegian Bokmål Rhinen
  • Rhinenriver that flows through Europe
Persian راین
  • راین (râyn)river that flows through Europe
Polish Ren
  • Renriver that flows through Europe
Portuguese Reno
  • Renoriver that flows through Europe
Romanian Rin
  • Rinriver that flows through Europe
Russian Рейн
  • Рейн (Rejn)river that flows through Europe
Slovak Rýn
  • Rýnriver that flows through Europe
Spanish Rin
  • Rinriver that flows through Europe
Swedish Rhen
  • Rhenriver that flows through Europe
Thai ไรน์, แม่น้ำไรน์
  • ไรน์ (rái)river that flows through Europe
  • แม่น้ำไรน์river that flows through Europe
Turkish Ren
  • Renriver that flows through Europe
Ukrainian Рейн
  • Рейн (Rejn)river that flows through Europe
Welsh Rhein
  • Rheinriver that flows through Europe
Yiddish ריין
  • ריין (reyn)river that flows through Europe

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rhine

onlinelinedesignsignfinewinedefineminenineofflinepinecombinerefinedeclinedivineinlineKleinassignalignspineeinsteinsteinvinetyne
All rhymes →

Anagrams

HenrirheinHinerHiren
Cite this entry
APA

rhine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhine

MLA

“rhine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhine. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rhine,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhine.

Source: rhine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.