English
ravish
Ravish comes from Middle English ravyschen, and goes back to Latin rapō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapōas rapere
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*rapirereconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ravyschen
- Englishearliest quotation 1590ravish
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapōas rapere
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*rapirereconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ravyschen
- Englishearliest quotation 1590ravish
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene: “For loe that Guest would beare her forcibly, /…”
Linked words
through Latin rapō
Today it means
verb To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin rapō / ravish