rain

a. precipitation from clouds in the form of drops of water, formed by the condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere

b. a fall of rain; shower

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

What does it mean when you dream about rain?

Rain is a natural element of cleansing. Because it is essential to plant growth, rain is a symbol of fertility. In a dream, rain may indicate a new direction of thought and purpose—washing away the old and fertilizing the new. Alternatively, gray, dismal clouds and rain may indicate desolation or barrenness.

rain

[rān]

(meteorology)

Precipitation in the form of liquid water drops with diameters greater than 0.5 millimeter, or if widely scattered the drops may be smaller; the only other form of liquid precipitation is drizzle.

rain

Precipitation in the form of liquid drops. The water droplets are of greater than 0.5-mm diameter. See meteorological symbols for the symbols used for rain on synoptic charts.

Rain

(dreams)

Interpretation is contingent on your current circumstances as well as the kind of rain that is falling. Rain naturally cleans, refreshes, and “provides life-giving moisture.” Depending on the dreamer, it could suggest a period of renewal and fertility (reproduction or creativity). However, dark clouds and a heavy downpour indicate feelings of isolation and helplessness. On the other hand, the heavy downpour could represent unconscious materials and emotions attempting to enter the dreamer’s conscious mind.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Rain

atmospheric precipitation falling from clouds in the form of droplets of water measuring from 0.5 to 6-7 mm in diameter. Liquid precipitation with droplets of smaller diameter is called drizzle. Droplets larger than 6-7 mm in diameter break up into smaller drops in falling. The intensity of rain varies from 0.25 mm per hour (very light rain) to 100 mm per hour (heavy rain).

As a rule, rain falls from mixed clouds (predominantly nimbostratus and altostratus) containing supercooled droplets and ice crystals at below-zero temperatures. The saturation pressure of water vapor over the droplets is greater than over the ice crystals at the same temperature. For this reason, a cloud, even one not saturated with water vapor with respect to the water droplets will be oversaturated with respect to the crystals. This leads to the growth of the crystals with the simultaneous evaporation of the droplets. In growing larger and heavier, the crystals fall from the cloud, crystallizing the supercooled drops onto them in the process. In entering the lower part of the cloud or below the cloud in layers with above-freezing air temperature, the crystals melt, turning into raindrops. A lesser role is played by the coalescence of cloud drops in the formation of rain.