To rend is to tear something into pieces, to wrench something violently or to cause great emotional pain.
(verb)See rend in Webster's New World College Dictionary
Origin: ME renden < OE rendan, akin to OFris renda < IE base *rendh-, to tear apart > rind, Sans randhram, fissure, split
intransitive verb
See rend in American Heritage Dictionary 4
verb rent rent (rĕnt) or rend·ed, rend·ing, rends verb, transitive
Origin:
Origin: Middle English renden
Origin: , from Old English rendan
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