rainbow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an illusory hope

   chasing rainbows

2. 2
   noun

   A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.

   Why are there so many songs about rainbows And what's on the other side? Rainbows are visions, but only illusions And rainbows have nothing to hide.

3. 3
   noun

   A wide assortment; a varied multitude.

   a rainbow of possibilities

4. 4
   noun

   An illusion; a mirage.

   Many electoral promises are rainbows, vanishing soon after poll day.

5. 5
   noun

   Rainbow trout.

   Finally, by actual trial, I have found that I can catch more rainbow by using one fly than with a two or three-fly cast.

6. 6
   noun

   A person within the LGBT community.

   Oh look, the rainbow came back.

7. 7
   adj

   Made up of several races or ethnicities, or (more broadly) of several cultural or ideological factions.

   That Asian-American actor Thomas Ikeda contributes a pleasingly frantic Panthino would not be considered rainbow enough.

8. 8
   adj

   LGBT.

   Similarly, the question of who belongs in such a rainbow alliance isn't set. It can include gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals. It can include people who are 'questioning' which culture they belong to [...]

Etymology

From Middle English reynbowe, raynbowe, from Old English reġnboga (“rainbow”), from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô (“rainbow”), equivalent to rain + bow (“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge (“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog (“rainbow”), German Regenbogen (“rainbow”), Danish regnbue (“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge (“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi (“rainbow”).