Rend Definition

rĕnd
rending, rends, rent
verb
rending, rends
To tear; burst; split apart.
Webster's New World
To tear (one's clothing) to show grief, anguish, etc.
Webster's New World
To tear, pull, or rip with violence.
Webster's New World
To pull away forcibly; wrest.
Rent the money from his hand.
American Heritage
To tear, pull apart, rip up, or split with violence [a tree rent by lightning]
A roar rends the air.
Webster's New World

Origin of Rend

  • From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down"), from Proto-Germanic *hrandijanÄ… (“to tear"), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causitive of Proto-Germanic *hrindanÄ… (“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").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English renden from Old English rendan

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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