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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

rend.

To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɹɛnd/

  1. To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst.

    transitive
    Powder rends a rock in blasting.
    Lightning rends an oak.

  2. To violently disturb the peace of; to throw into chaos.

    figuratively · transitive
    a scream that rent the air

  3. To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force; to amputate.

    transitive

  4. To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.

    intransitive
    Relationships may rend if tempers flare.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic *(h)randijan (“to tear”), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causative of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną (“to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- (“to hit, beat”), which would make it related to Old English hrindan (“to thrust, push”). Cognate with Scots rent (“to rend, tear”), Old Frisian renda (“to tear”).

noun/ɹɛnd/

  1. A violent separation of parts.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic *(h)randijan (“to tear”), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causative of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną (“to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- (“to hit, beat”), which would make it related to Old English hrindan (“to thrust, push”). Cognate with Scots rent (“to rend, tear”), Old Frisian renda (“to tear”).

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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.