Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rainstorm” come from?

Rainstorm combines English rain with English storm, with rain deriving from Old French resne through Proto-Germanic sturmaz, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European reǵ-.

rainstorm (English): A storm characterized by substantial, heavy...

Definitions

  1. A storm characterized by substantial, heavy...

Ancestry of “rainstorm”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishstormAny disturbed state of the atmosphere, especially...
2Middle EnglishstormA storm; an instance of intense wind and...
3Old Englishstormstorm
4Proto-West Germanic*sturm—
5Proto-Germanicsturmazstorm
6Proto-Indo-European(s)twer-to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around; to turn...

Words derived from “rainstorm”

  • rainstormy
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)twer- →