amain

/əˈmeɪn/

amain adverb: with all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently.

Adverb

amain (comparative more amain, superlative most amain)

(archaic, literary) With all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently.
- And in beholding how he [the cyclops Polyphemus] fed and belked vp againe
  His bloody vittels at his mouth, and vttred out amayne
  The clottred gobbets mixt with wyne, I [Odysseus] thus ſurmyſde: like lot
  Hangs ouer my head now, and I muſt alſo go to pot.1567, Ovid, “The Fourteenth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 176, recto
- So likewiſe turnde the Prince vpon the Knight,
  And layd at him amaine with all his will and might.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 27, page 430
(archaic) At full speed; also, in great haste.
- At length the Danes beeing aſſayled on eche ſide, both a front before, and on their backes behinde, oppreſſed as it were wyth multitude, they threwe downe theyr weapons and fled amain.1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Scotlande, […]”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne...
- [T]he Queene o'th Skie [i.e., Juno],
  Whoſe watry Arch, and meſſenger, am I.
  Bids thee leaue theſe, & with her ſoueraigne grace,
  Here on this graſſe-plot, in this very place
  To come, and ſport: here [i.e., her] Peacocks flye amaine:
  Approach, rich Ceres, her to entertaine.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
(UK, dialectal) Out of control.
- The waggonway lay near the Windmill Hills and went down the north side of the hills to the Rivir Tine, and at the Coal steath [= staithe] Mathew Gray lived. I was about hauf way down the bank when thur was two Waggons Coming after me Amain [= broken loose and running away].1820s (date written), Anthony Errington, “Saving Men on the Waggonway”, in P. E. H. Hair, editor, Coals on Rails: Or The Reason of My Wrighting: The Autobiography of Anthony Errington, a Tyneside...
(obsolete) Exceedingly; overmuch.
- Riches are mine, Fortune is in my hand;
  They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain,
  While Virtue, Valour, Wiſdom ſit in want.1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, pages 50–51, lines...
- The herd approach'd; each guest, with busy brain,
  Arriving at the portal, gaz'd amain,
  And enter'd marveling: […]1819, John Keats, “Lamia”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, part II, page 36

Verb

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

(obsolete, transitive) To lower (the sail of a ship, particularly the topsail).
(figuratively, obsolete, transitive) To decrease or reduce (something).
(intransitive, obsolete) To lower the topsail in token of surrender; to yield.

amain meaning in Bengali

amain in Bengali

পূর্ণশক্তিতে, দ্রুতগতিতে

Examples of amain in a sentence

For it brought no drops at all with it: onely about two dayes after it rained (I muſt needes confeſſe) amaine.1611, Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], “My Obseruations of the Most Glorious, Peerelesse, and Mayden Citie of Venice: […]”, in Coryats...
They on the Hill, which were not yet come to blows, perceaving the fewneſs of thir Enemies, came down amain; […]1670, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock]...
Now when he was got up to the top of the Hill, there came two Men running againſt him amain; the name of the one was Timorous, and of the other Miſtruſt.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page...
So that it was like a sweet home-coming to him to come on board his well-built ship and have her rowed amain out of Lookinghaven.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 15:

Forms of amain

Adverb
comparative	more amain
superlative	most amain
alternative form	amaine
Verb
third-person singular present	amains
present participle	amaining
past participle	amained
past	amained

Origin of amain

From a- (prefix with the sense ‘at; in; on; with’, used to show a state, condition, or manner) + main (“force, power, strength”). Main is derived from Middle English mayn (“strength”), from Old English mæġen (“strength”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“might, power, strength”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able”).

Borrowed from Spanish amainar (“to reef a sail (take in part of a sail to adapt its size to the force of the wind); to abate, die down, subside; to ease off, let up; of a person: to calm down, control one’s anger”); further etymology uncertain, probably from a regional Italian (Naples) word (compare Italian ammainare (“to lower or reef (a flag, sail, etc.)”)), from Vulgar Latin *invagīnare (“to sheathe (a sword); to put away, stow”), from Latin in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + vāgīna (“scabbard, sheath; covering, holder; vagina”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂ǵ- (“to cover; sheath”)); this would make it a doublet of invaginate.

Words that rhyme with amain

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about amain

What does amain mean?: Amain means with all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently.
What is amain in Bengali?: Amain in Bengali is পূর্ণশক্তিতে, দ্রুতগতিতে. See Amain meaning in Bengali.
How do you use amain in a sentence?: For it brought no drops at all with it: onely about two dayes after it rained (I muſt needes confeſſe) amaine.
What part of speech is amain?: Amain can be an adverb or a verb.
How do you pronounce amain?: Amain is pronounced /əˈmeɪn/ (UK).

Words near amain in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: amain (page history and authors); amain (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-amain.wav.

Cite this entry: “amain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/amain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.