# rune

/ˈɹun/ (US) · /ɹˈuːn/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/rune
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. ancient letter

noun · CEFR B2

a letter from an old alphabet used by people in Northern Europe, like the Vikings, a long time ago.

For teachers: a character from the alphabets used by ancient Germanic peoples, such as the Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons, prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet.

- The archaeologist found a large stone with a mysterious rune carved into its surface.
- Scholars spent decades deciphering the runes inscribed on the burial ship, which provided new insights into early medieval trade routes.

### 2. magic symbol

noun · CEFR C1 · Literary

a mark or symbol that people believe has secret or magical powers.

For teachers: a mark or sign used as a mystical or magical symbol, often associated with divination or protection.

- In the story, the wizard drew a glowing rune in the air to open the door.
- The fantasy novel describes a system of magic where practitioners must carefully ink specific runes onto parchment to cast their spells.

### 3. Unicode code point

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a single character in a computer's text system, representing a letter, number, or symbol.

For teachers: an integer value representing a Unicode code point; specifically used in the Go programming language to represent a single character.

- The programmer used a rune to handle the special characters in the text file.
- When iterating over a string in Go, each element is treated as a rune rather than a raw byte to ensure multi-byte characters are handled correctly.

### 4. epic poem

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary

a section of a long, traditional poem from Finland or Scandinavia.

For teachers: a canto or division of a Finnic or Scandinavian epic poem, most notably within the Kalevala.

- The professor read the first rune of the epic aloud to the class.
- The rhythmic structure of the Finnish runes influenced many later poets who sought to capture a sense of ancient northern mythology.

### 5. to write poetry

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

to write or perform poems or songs.

For teachers: to compose or perform poetry or songs; an intransitive use found in older literature.

- The old bard would rune for hours by the fire.
- In the ancient hall, the poet began to rune of heroes and forgotten battles, captivating the gathered crowd.

## Examples

- The archaeologist found a stone with an ancient rune carved on it.
- Historians studied the inscriptions on the burial mound to decipher the meaning of each individual rune.
- The fantasy novel describes a protagonist who must activate a series of glowing runes to unlock the gates of the forgotten city.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.