Sain

//seɪn// name, verb

name, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make the sign of the cross on or over something or someone. archaic, transitive

    "Saining is the grand protection against them; a Shetlander always sains himself when passing by their hills."

  2. 2
    To make the sign of the cross. intransitive
  3. 3
    To bless, to keep from evil influence. archaic, transitive

    "Sain usǃ Sain us, oh Godǃ."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Example

More examples

"Saining is the grand protection against them; a Shetlander always sains himself when passing by their hills."

Etymology

From Middle English sainen, seinen, senen, sinen, signen, from Old English sēnian, seġnian, from Proto-Germanic *segnōną (“to mark with a cross, bless”), from Latin signō, from signum. Cognate with Dutch zegenen (“to bless”), German segnen (“to bless”), Irish séan (“sign, omen”) and Scottish Gaelic seun (“a charm”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.