Rainfall

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The amount of precipitation in the form of rain that falls in a particular area over a specific period of time
2. The total quantity of water droplets that fall from the atmosphere to the ground in a specific area over a certain time frame is known as precipitation
3. The measurement of liquid precipitation that descends from clouds to the Earth's surface in a designated area during a defined timeframe

Etymology: Rainfall is about as transparent as compounds get: two plain English words, "rain" and "fall," set side by side. Both are old native words. "Rain" comes from Old English "regn," and "fall" from Old English "feallan," meaning to drop or sink down. Put together, the noun names the act of rain coming down, and only later did it become the measurable quantity that weather reports track. That shift from event to measurement is the main change in meaning. A farmer in the past would have spoken of a rain falling on the fields, while a modern forecaster uses the same noun to mean a number of millimetres collected in a gauge over a set period. The compound's parts have stayed exactly as they were, and only the way the whole is used has moved toward the technical sense.

Synonyms: precipitation, downpour, shower