Meanings
present singular third person rends · participle present rending · participle past rent · past rent · participle past rended · past rended
- transitiveTo separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst.
Lightning rends an oak.
2 more examples
Powder rends a rock in blasting.
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.
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 I, scene ii] - figurativelytransitiveTo violently disturb the peace of; to throw into chaos.
a scream that rent the air
1 more example
We are most vulnerable now to the messages of the new subcults, to the claims and counterclaims that rend the air.
1970, Alvin Toffler, Future Shock: Bantam Books, page 317 - transitiveTo part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force; to amputate.
A time to rent, and a time to sow: a time to keepe silence, and a time to speake.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 3:72 more examples
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 2:12For a time, there reigned, too, a sense of peculiar dread at this flitting apparition, as if it were treacherously beckoning us on and on, in order that the monster might turn round upon us, and rend us at last in the remotest and most savage seas.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 51, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 260
plural rends
- A violent separation of parts.
She'd been in a couple of minor car accidents herself, and witnessed a few others, and the rend of metal was unforgettable.
2002, John S. Anderson, A Daughter of Light, page xvi
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱret-
- Proto-Germanic*hrindaną“to push”
- Proto-West Germanic*(h)randijan“to tear”
- Old Englishrendan“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”
- Middle Englishrenden
- Englishrend
From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic *(h)randijan (“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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σπαράσσω
- σπαράσσω (sparássō)to separate into parts with force
Bulgarian скъсвам, съдирам
- скъсвам (skăsvam)to separate into parts with force
- съдирам (sădiram)to separate into parts with force
- це́пя (cépja)to separate into parts with force
- разце́пвам (razcépvam)to separate into parts with force
- разце́пя (razcépja)to separate into parts with force
- разделям (razdeljam)to part or tear off forcibly
- разце́пвам (razcépvam)to part or tear off forcibly
- разце́пя (razcépja)to part or tear off forcibly
- скъсвам се (skăsvam se)to be rent or torn
- це́пя се (cépja se)to be rent or torn
Catalan esquinçar, esgarrar
- esquinçarto separate into parts with force
- esgarrarto separate into parts with force
Czech rozervat, rvát
- rozervatto separate into parts with force
- rvátto separate into parts with force
- roztrhnoutto separate into parts with force
- trhatto separate into parts with force
- odervatto part or tear off forcibly
- pukatto be rent or torn
- trhat seto be rent or torn
Esperanto disŝiri
- disŝirito separate into parts with force
Finnish särkeä, pirstoa
- särkeäto separate into parts with force
- pirstoato separate into parts with force
- halkaistato separate into parts with force
- repäistäto part or tear off forcibly
- riuhtaistato part or tear off forcibly
- repiäto part or tear off forcibly
- revetäto be rent or torn
- repeytyäto be rent or torn
- pirstoutuato be rent or torn
French rompre, déchirer
- rompreto separate into parts with force
- déchirerto separate into parts with force
German zerreißen, zerspalten
- zerreißento separate into parts with force
- zerspaltento separate into parts with force
- spaltento separate into parts with force
Hungarian hasít, széthasít
- hasítto separate into parts with force
- széthasítto separate into parts with force
- felhasítto separate into parts with force
- repesztto separate into parts with force
- elrepesztto separate into parts with force
- szétrepesztto separate into parts with force
- megrepesztto separate into parts with force
- kettérepesztto separate into parts with force
- kettéhasítto separate into parts with force
- szakítto part or tear off forcibly
- elszakítto part or tear off forcibly
- leszakítto part or tear off forcibly
Irish rois
- roisto separate into parts with force
Italian spaccare
- spaccareto separate into parts with force
Latin lacerō, laniō
- lacerōto separate into parts with force
- laniōto separate into parts with force
Māori tīhae, tīhaehae
- tīhaeto part or tear off forcibly
- tīhaehaeto part or tear off forcibly
Portuguese rasgar
- rasgarto separate into parts with force
Romanian sfâșia, rupe
- sfâșiato separate into parts with force
- rupeto separate into parts with force
Russian раздира́ть, разрыва́ть
- раздира́ть (razdirátʹ)to separate into parts with force
- разрыва́ть (razryvátʹ)to separate into parts with force
- отрыва́ть (otryvátʹ)to part or tear off forcibly
Spanish rasgar, destrozar
- rasgarto separate into parts with force
- destrozarto separate into parts with force
- desgajarto separate into parts with force
- romperto separate into parts with force
- rasgarto part or tear off forcibly
- desgarrarto part or tear off forcibly
- romperseto be rent or torn
- desgarrarseto be rent or torn
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rend
Anagrams
Cite this entry
rend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rend
“rend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rend. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rend,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rend.
Source: rend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.