English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈmeɪn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn

Adverb

amain ‎(comparative more amain, superlative most amain)

1. (archaic) With full force; forcefully, violently. [from 16th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.6:

     So likewise turnde the Prince upon the Knight, / And layd at him amaine with all his will and might.

   • Milton

     They on the hill, which were not yet come to blows, perceiving the fewness of their enemies, came down amain.

   • 1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel, line 87

     They spurred amain, their steeds were white:

2. (archaic) At full speed; in great haste. [from 16th c.]
   • Holinshed

     They fled amain.

   • Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Chimes, VII, lines 5-6

     The heavy rain it hurries amain

     And heaven and the hurricane.

3. (Britain dialectal) Out of control.
   • 1790, Felling/Heworth, Errington:

     two waggons coming after me amain [...]

Translations

Etymology 2

French amener.

Verb

amain ‎(third-person singular simple present amains, present participle amaining, simple past and past participle amained)

1. (nautical) To lower the topsail, in token of surrender; to yield.

Anagrams

• Amina, amnia, anima, mania

Norman

Etymology

Borrowing from Old Norse almanna ‎(“for everyone”).

Adjective

amain m

1. (Jersey) of easy use