A river in western Europe, that flows through Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, France and the Netherlands, before emptying into the North Sea.

plural of rhine

(UK, dialect) A watercourse; a ditch for water.

(geography, historical) Alternative form of County Palatinate of the Rhine

one of two main subgroups of the West Central German dialects; spoken in Hesse, the southeastern half of Rhineland-Palatinate, northernmost Baden-Württemberg, and traditionally in Lorraine (France); distinguished from Central Franconian by the use of das (“that”) and was (“what”), and the pronunciation of Germanic -β- as a stop [p] when now in coda position.

(historical) A confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon.

The most populous of the 16 component states of Germany, located in the west of the country.

(geography, historical) A German state of the Holy Roman Empire.

One of the component states of Germany according to the current administrative division of the nation.

(usually with the definite article) An area on both sides of the river Rhine, in the west of Germany. Roughly equivalent to the former Prussian Rhine Province, now the greater part of Rhineland-Palatinate plus the south-western half of North Rhine-Westphalia.