Comparative form of 'rainy', meaning having more rain or characterized by more frequent rainfall. Also a proper noun referring to Mount Rainier in Washington State.
From Middle English 'rain' plus the comparative suffix '-ier'. The mountain name comes from Captain George Vancouver's 1792 naming after British Admiral Peter Rainier, though the spelling coincidentally matches the weather descriptor.
Mount Rainier perfectly embodies its coincidental namesake - the massive peak creates its own weather systems and receives over 600 inches of snow annually, making it genuinely one of the 'rainier' places on Earth. This linguistic accident created a mountain whose name describes its dominant characteristic.
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