rune

English

/ɹuːn/

noun
Definitions
  • A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of various ancient Germanic peoples, especially the Scandinavians and the Anglo-Saxons.
  • A Finnish or Scandinavian epic poem, or a division of one, especially a division of the Kalevala.
  • A letter or mark used as mystical or magic symbol.
  • A verse or song, especially one with mystical or mysterious overtones; a spell or an incantation.
  • (obsolete) A roun secret or mystery.
  • (programming) In the Go programming language, a Unicode code point.

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse rún (rune, secret) derived from Proto-Germanic *rūnō (secret, letter, literature, rune) derived from Proto-Celtic *rūnā (mystery, secret).

Origin

Proto-Celtic

*rūnā

Gloss

mystery, secret

Concept
Semantic Field

Cognition

Ontological Category

Property

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms