[ruːn], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a letter of an ancient Germanic alphabet, related to the Roman alphabet
(e.g: long ago, a rune had been carved in the centre of the stone)

- a section of the Kalevala or of an ancient Scandinavian poem


Phrases:
- read the runes

Origin:
Old English rūn ‘a secret, mystery, runic letter, writing, counsel’, of Germanic origin; not recorded between Middle English and the late 17th century, when it was reintroduced under the influence of Old Norse rún ‘runic letter’. rune is partly after Finnish runo ‘poem, song of the Kalevala’