Showing posts with label rein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rein. Show all posts

Monday, November 21, 2011

rain, reign, rein

Rain or rain means the drops of water that fall from the sky--
Take an umbrella; it looks like rain.
He got soaked in the rain on the way home.
Do you think it'll rain?

Reign or reign ( rhymes with rain ) means the duration of the rule of a king or queen, or the royal power of ruling the state--
Queen Victoria's reign lasted more than sixty years.
The next sovereign to reign over England will be Prince Charles.

Rein or rein ( rhymes with rain ) means a leather strap used to control a horse or other animal. It may refer to the strap itself  ( a thing ), or to the capacity to control the animal with it--
He checked the horse with a light rein.
Rein in your horse!

Now that you know that, you can say--
"During the reign of the late king, Grandfather helped the prince rein in his horses, which were upset by the rain."

Note--"reins" is the plural ( more than one ) of "rein"-- 
Hold on to the reins, or the horse might bolt.
"Reins" is also an old-fashioned term for a person's kidneys--
Some ancient people believed that the reins were the seat of emotion. 
Note # 2--"arraign" means to make someone appear in court to answer a charge or indictment--
The judge will arraign him on Monday.
Not to be confused with "a rain"--
They were plagued by a rain of frogs.
Or "a rein"--
Try to keep a rein on your temper.
Or "a reign"--
She celebrated a reign of sixty years.