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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

rainbow.

A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɹeɪnboʊ/General-American/ˈɹeɪmboʊ/General-American/ˈɹeɪnbəʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹɛjmbəw/British, Southern, Standard
  1. A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.

  2. Any prismatic refraction of light showing a spectrum of colours.

  3. A wide assortment; a varied multitude.

    often
    a rainbow of possibilities
  4. An illusion; a mirage.

    figuratively
    Many electoral promises are rainbows, vanishing soon after poll day.
  5. A curveball, particularly a slow one.

  6. A trick in which the player makes the ball arc over the opponent's head using both feet; rainbow kick

  7. In Texas hold 'em or Omaha hold 'em, a flop that contains three different suits.

    slang
  8. Rainbow trout.

  9. A person within the LGBT community.

    derogatory · figuratively · sometimes
    Oh look, the rainbow came back.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English reynbowe, raynbowe, from Old English reġnboga (“rainbow”), from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô (“rainbow”), equivalent to rain + bow (“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge (“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog (“rainbow”), German Regenbogen (“rainbow”), Danish regnbue (“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge (“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi (“rainbow”).

adj/ˈɹeɪnboʊ/General-American/ˈɹeɪmboʊ/General-American/ˈɹeɪnbəʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹɛjmbəw/British, Southern, Standard
  1. Multicolored, especially if in rainbow order.

    not-comparable
  2. Made up of several races or ethnicities, or (more broadly) of several cultural or ideological factions.

    US · attributive · not-comparable
  3. LGBT.

    attributive · derogatory · not-comparable · sometimes
  4. Composed entirely of different suits.

    not-comparable
  5. Of or pertaining to rainbow tables.

    not-comparable
    rainbow attack
Where this word comes from

From Middle English reynbowe, raynbowe, from Old English reġnboga (“rainbow”), from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô (“rainbow”), equivalent to rain + bow (“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge (“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog (“rainbow”), German Regenbogen (“rainbow”), Danish regnbue (“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge (“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi (“rainbow”).

verb/ˈɹeɪnboʊ/General-American/ˈɹeɪmboʊ/General-American/ˈɹeɪnbəʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɹɛjmbəw/British, Southern, Standard
  1. To brighten with, or as with, a rainbow; to pattern with the colours of the rainbow.

    transitive
  2. To take the appearance of a rainbow.

    intransitive
  3. In climbing gyms where the rocks to climb are colored to indicate suggested climbing routes, to climb rocks of different colors, thereby ignoring such routes.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English reynbowe, raynbowe, from Old English reġnboga (“rainbow”), from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô (“rainbow”), equivalent to rain + bow (“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge (“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog (“rainbow”), German Regenbogen (“rainbow”), Danish regnbue (“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge (“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi (“rainbow”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.