rainbow, raynebowe, reynbouwe

& a. [ A. S. rénboga; Ger. regenbogen.] A. As substantive: 1. Meteor.: A luminous bow or arch appearing in the clouds opposite to the sun when they are resolved into rain. Theoretically several bows may co-exist; generally, however, there is but one. Sometimes there are two, very rarely three or even four-the largest number authentically on record. Every rainbow exhibits the prismatic colors. When there are two bows, the lower, or primary, is very bright, and has the red highest; the outer, or secondary, is more faint, and has the violet the highest color. They are produced chiefly by the refraction and dispersion of the light in pa ing through the raindrops, partly also by its reflection from the back of the drops, without which the appearances would not reach the eye. The secondary bow ceases to be visible when the sun is 54° above the horizon. 2. Ornith.: The genus Diphlogena, containing two of the most brilliantly plumaged Humming birds. The bill is straight and very long, the tail deeply forked. The sexes are so different that for a long while the female of Diphlogena iris was considered to be a distinct species. Two species are known, D. iris from Bolivia, and D. hesperus from Equador. B. As adj .: Having colors or hues like the rain bow; many-colored. "Varying its rainbow hues." Words worth: Excursion, i. 3346