Rail

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɹeɪl/

Definitions

1. A long, slender bar made of metal used for support or as a barrier ; a pair of parallel steel tracks on which trains run ; to express strong criticism or anger about something verbally
2. A rigid metal strip serving as a fence, handhold, or guide ; the fixed steel tracks that guide railway vehicles ; to complain harshly or vehemently against a person or situation
3. A narrow metal beam often used as a boundary or handhold ; the rails that form the pathway for locomotives and railcars ; to speak out in grievance or castigate through speech

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "rail" is that the railway and the bird share a surname-like tangle of meanings, yet the railway sense descends from a Latin word meaning "rule." Latin "regula" gave English "rail" through two routes at once: Old English "regol," a straight bar or ruler, and Old French "reille." Both trace back to "regō," "to rule, to guide, to govern," which is also where "regular" comes from. So a bar that holds you steady and a line that guides a train share one ancestral idea of straightness and control. The bird word is a separate story. "Rail," the name of the marsh bird, comes from French "râle," which was named for its harsh cry, from Vulgar Latin "rasculum," itself from Latin "rādere," "to scrape." The bird and the fence are unrelated despite sounding identical. The verb meaning "to complain harshly" comes from French "railler," meaning "to mock" or "to jeer." The sense of loud, bitter protest grew out of that idea of ridicule.

Synonyms: bar, fence, guard

Antonyms: open