reins, n. pl. Now arch.
(reɪnz)
Forms: (1 renys), 4 reenes, -us, 4–7 reynes, (4 reynyez, 5 reynys, 5, 7 reyns), 5–7 raynes, 6–7 raines, (6 rains), reines, 4, 7– reins. Also sing. 7 reyn.
[a. OF. reins, rens, ad. L. rēnes pl.]
1. The kidneys.
| [c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 140 ᵹif hyt byþ of renys oþþer þan lendene þanne cumþ þæt blod of þara blæddran.] 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 369 He hadde afterward greet penaunce in an evel þat hatte ilium and greveþ faste by þe reynes. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 27 Þei hangen & bynden summe membris wiþ oþere as þe reynes to þe rigge. 1450–80 tr. Secreta Secret. 31 Disese cometh in thi Reyns. 1586 Cogan Haven Health cl. (1636) 147 The Reynes or Kidneys make grosse and ill bloud. 1596 P. Barrough Meth. Physick iii. xxxvii. (1639) 159 The reines are vexed with inflammation for diverse causes. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 346 Spirits..Vital in every part, not as frail man In Entrailes, Heart or Head, Liver or Reines. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 353 So from the Reins the Liver is generated, from that the Heart, from that the Stomach. 1870 Bryant Homer II. xxi. 289 Eels and fishes came and gnawed The warrior's reins. |
2. The region of the kidneys; the loins.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. ix. 2 O man..clothid with lynnen, and an ynkhorn of a wryter in his reynes. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 370 Sche hath my wounded herte enoignt, My temples and my Reins also. c 1475 Partenay 4325 Gaffray gripte he there faste by the raynes, Ech of thaim both suffryng there hug[e] paynes. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1068 Gyrte thy raynes as a man. 1572 Walsingham in D. Digges Complete Ambass. (1655) 344 The Count de Retz is hurt in the rains of the back with a harquebush shot out of Rochel. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. xiii. (1821) 150 Receeving a blow with a Peece upon the reines of his backe. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 168 [The] Rock..bears the marks, as if a Body had been laid on the Back upon it, for the form of the Reins appear there. 1814 Cary Dante, Inf. xx. 13 Each..seem'd to be revers'd At the neck-bone, so that the countenance Was from the reins averted. 1865 Swinburne Poems & Ball., Song in Time of Rev. 27 They are girdled about the reins with a curse. |
b. Arch. (See quot. 1727–38.)
After F. les reins d'une voûte.
| 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Vault, Reins, or fillings up of a Vault, are the sides which sustain it. 1751 C. Labelye Westm. Bridge 21 This upper Arch is..thicker in the Reins, or towards the Bottom, than at the Key or Top. 1872 Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 184 The space between the crown and the reins of the arch. |
3. In or after Biblical use: The seat of the feelings or affections.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 592 For he is þe gropande god,..Rypande of vche a ring þe reynyez & hert. 1382 Wyclif Ps. vii. 10 God serchende hertis and reenes. ― Wisd. i. 6 Of the reenus of hym witnesse is God. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 224, I am nere to theyr mouthes, but I am ferre from theyr raynes [cf. Wyclif Jer. xii. 2]. c 1580 Sidney Ps. vii. x, Thou righteous proofes to hartes and reines dost send. 1603 T. M. Progr. Jas. I B 3 b, Griefe seized euery priuate mans raynes. 1659 Gentl. Calling To Bookseller, A Manual which..will lively affect, and sit close to the Reins, and penetrate the Heart of the Reader. 1738 Wesley Ps. cxxxix. iii. ii, Thy Hand my Heart and Reins possest. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxx, Through their reins in ice and fire Fear contended with desire. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as † rein-guard, rein-gut; rein-trying adj.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Sam. xx. 8 Joab was..gird with a knyif hongynge vnto the reyn gottys in the sheethe. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., Rein-guard (Mil.), that part of armour which guarded the lower part of the back. 1827 Pollok Course T. x, Rein-trying, heart-investigating day. |