Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • In the Bible, the eldest son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy and was condemned to be a fugitive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun biblical The eldest son of Adam and Eve as described in Genesis. (see Cain and Abel).
  • proper noun rare A male given name

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (Old Testament) Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve born after the Fall of Man; Cain killed Abel out of jealousy and was exiled by God

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hebrew קַיִן (Káyin, "craftsman").

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