amain

adverb

No English definition recorded for this entry.

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /əˈmeɪn/

adv

Etymology: 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”).

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.”
“So likewiſe turnde the Prince vpon the Knight, And layd at him amaine with all his will and might.”
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.”
“[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.”
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].”
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.”
“The herd approach'd; each guest, with busy brain, Arriving at the portal, gaz'd amain, And enter'd marveling: […]”

verb

Etymology: 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.

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