Rend
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɛnd
Origin
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 causitive of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną ("to push"), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- ("to hit, beat"), in which case would relate it to Old English hrindan ("to thrust, push"). Cognate with Scots rent ("to rend, tear"), Old Frisian renda ("to tear").
Full definition of rend
Verb
- (transitive) To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to tear asunder; to split; to burstPowder rends a rock in blasting.Lightning rends an oak.
- 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2If 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.
- (transitive) To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force.
- (intransitive) To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.Relationships may rend if tempers flare.Rending of garments for shiva is a Jewish tradition.