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raven

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Raven and räven

English

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Etymology 1

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A raven (bird).

From Middle English raven, reven, from Old English hræfn, from Proto-West Germanic *hrabn, from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz (“raven”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱrep-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- (“to croak, crow”).

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: rāʹvən, IPA(key): /ˈɹeɪvən/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪvən

Noun

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raven (countable and uncountable, plural ravens)

  2. (countable) Any of several, generally large and lustrous black species of birds in the genus Corvus, especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
  3. A jet-black color.
    raven:  
    • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:
      A lone man walks the shores of Nantucket; his noble form is slightly bent, and with the raven of his hair is blended the faintest tinge of gray, though he is evidently a man to whom the meridian of life is yet far in the distance […]
Derived terms
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Translations
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Adjective

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raven (not comparable)

  1. Of the color of the raven; jet-black.
    raven curls; raven darkness
    She was a tall, sophisticated, raven-haired beauty.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English ravene, ravine, from Old French raviner (“rush, seize by force”), itself from ravine (“rapine”), from Latin rapīna (“plundering, loot”), itself from rapere (“seize, plunder, abduct”).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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raven (uncountable)

  1. Rapine; rapacity.
  2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
Translations
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Verb

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raven (third-person singular simple present ravens, present participle ravening, simple past and past participle ravened)

  1. (transitive, archaic) To obtain or seize by violence.
  2. (transitive) To devour with great eagerness.
    • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 93:
      And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to devour, shall suddenly die.
    • 1938, P.G. Woodhouse, The Code of the Woosters:
      I refer to the danger of keeping a dog of this nature and disposition in a bedroom, where it can spring out ravening on anyone who enters.
  3. (transitive) To prey on with rapacity.
    The raven is both a scavenger, who ravens a dead animal almost like a vulture, and a bird of prey, who commonly ravens to catch a rodent.
  4. (intransitive) To show rapacity; to be greedy (for something).
    • 1587, Leonard Mascall, “The nature and qualities of hogges, and also the gouernement thereof”, in The First Booke of Cattell‎[1], London:
      […] because hogs are commonly rauening for their meat, more then other cattel, it is meet therefore to haue them ringed, or else they wil doe much hurt in digging and turning vp corne fieldes […]
    • 1852, Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Old Nurse’s Story”, in The Old Nurse’s Story and Other Tales‎[2]:
      They passed along towards the great hall-door, where the winds howled and ravened for their prey […]
    • 1865, Sabine Baring-Gould, chapter 8, in The Book of Were-Wolves‎[3], London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 114:
      The Greek were-wolf is closely related to the vampire. The lycanthropist falls into a cataleptic trance, during which his soul leaves his body, enters that of a wolf and ravens for blood.
    • 1931, James B. Fagan, The Improper Duchess‎[4], London: Victor Gollancz, published 1932, act 3, page 237:
      On one side the great temple where you can gather the good harvest—on the other a dirty little scandal that you’ve nosed out to fling to paper scavengers who feed it to their readin’ millions ravening for pornographic dirt.
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English rave. By surface analysis, rave +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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raven

  1. to (hold a) rave, to party wildly
    Raven is leven. ― To rave is to live.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of raven (weak)
infinitive raven
past singular ravede
past participle geraved
infinitive raven
gerund raven n
present tense past tense
1st person singular rave ravede
2nd person sing. (jij) ravet, rave2 ravede
2nd person sing. (u) ravet ravede
2nd person sing. (gij) ravet ravede
3rd person singular ravet ravede
plural raven raveden
subjunctive sing.1 rave ravede
subjunctive plur.1 raven raveden
imperative sing. rave
imperative plur.1 ravet
participles ravend geraved
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.

Etymology 2

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Original form of raaf which represents a rebracketing of this form and which existed alongside it since (late) Middle Dutch. The singular raven persisted in some dialects until at least the 18th century.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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raven m (plural ravens or ravenen, diminutive raventje n)

  1. Obsolete form of raaf.

Etymology 3

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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raven

  1. plural of raaf

Anagrams

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German

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Etymology

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From Rave +‎ -en, possibly after English (to) rave.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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raven (weak, third-person singular present ravt, past tense ravte, past participle geravt, auxiliary haben) (or as past participle: geraved)

  1. (colloquial) to rave (to attend a rave)
    • 2018 March 15, Julian Weber, “Kepler 452b-Rave”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎[5], →ISSN, page 26:
      Es wird geravt im Funkhaus Nalepastraße. „Kepler 452b“ klingt danach, Lichtjahre von der Realität entfernt zu sein. Motto des Techno-Performance-Festivals: „nonprofit und nomadisch“, Levitation pur.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

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Conjugation of raven (weak, auxiliary haben)
infinitive raven
present participle ravend
past participle geravt
auxiliary haben
indicative subjunctive
singular plural singular plural
present ich rave wir raven i ich rave wir raven
du ravst ihr ravt du ravest ihr ravet
er ravt sie raven er rave sie raven
preterite ich ravte wir ravten ii ich ravte1 wir ravten1
du ravtest ihr ravtet du ravtest1 ihr ravtet1
er ravte sie ravten er ravte1 sie ravten1
imperative rav (du)
rave (du) 		ravt (ihr)

1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.

Composed forms of raven (weak, auxiliary haben)
perfect
singular plural singular plural
indicative ich habe geravt wir haben geravt subjunctive ich habe geravt wir haben geravt
du hast geravt ihr habt geravt du habest geravt ihr habet geravt
er hat geravt sie haben geravt er habe geravt sie haben geravt
pluperfect
indicative ich hatte geravt wir hatten geravt subjunctive ich hätte geravt wir hätten geravt
du hattest geravt ihr hattet geravt du hättest geravt ihr hättet geravt
er hatte geravt sie hatten geravt er hätte geravt sie hätten geravt
future i
infinitive raven werden subjunctive i ich werde raven wir werden raven
du werdest raven ihr werdet raven
er werde raven sie werden raven
indicative ich werde raven wir werden raven subjunctive ii ich würde raven wir würden raven
du wirst raven ihr werdet raven du würdest raven ihr würdet raven
er wird raven sie werden raven er würde raven sie würden raven
future ii
infinitive geravt haben werden subjunctive i ich werde geravt haben wir werden geravt haben
du werdest geravt haben ihr werdet geravt haben
er werde geravt haben sie werden geravt haben
indicative ich werde geravt haben wir werden geravt haben subjunctive ii ich würde geravt haben wir würden geravt haben
du wirst geravt haben ihr werdet geravt haben du würdest geravt haben ihr würdet geravt haben
er wird geravt haben sie werden geravt haben er würde geravt haben sie würden geravt haben
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Further reading

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  • “raven” in Duden online
  • “raven” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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From Old Dutch ravan, from Proto-West Germanic *hrabn.

Noun

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rāven m

  1. raven

Inflection

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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

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Descendants

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  • Dutch: raaf, (all obsolete) raef, raven, raaven, raeven
    • Afrikaans: raaf
    • → Sranan Tongo: rafru
  • Limburgish: raof

Further reading

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Slovene

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Etymology

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From Proto-Slavic *orvьnъ.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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rávən (comparative rávnejši, superlative nȁjrávnejši)

  1. even, level

Inflection

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 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Hard
masculine feminine neuter
nom. sing. ráven rávna rávno
singular
masculine feminine neuter
nominative ráven ind
rávni def 		rávna rávno
genitive rávnega rávne rávnega
dative rávnemu rávni rávnemu
accusative nominativeinan or
genitiveanim 		rávno rávno
locative rávnem rávni rávnem
instrumental rávnim rávno rávnim
dual
masculine feminine neuter
nominative rávna rávni rávni
genitive rávnih rávnih rávnih
dative rávnima rávnima rávnima
accusative rávna rávni rávni
locative rávnih rávnih rávnih
instrumental rávnima rávnima rávnima
plural
masculine feminine neuter
nominative rávni rávne rávna
genitive rávnih rávnih rávnih
dative rávnim rávnim rávnim
accusative rávne rávne rávna
locative rávnih rávnih rávnih
instrumental rávnimi rávnimi rávnimi

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • “raven”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
  • “raven”, in Termania, Amebis
  • See also the general references

Swedish

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Noun

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raven

  1. definite plural of rave
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