English
reaper
Reaper comes from Old English rīpan ‘to reap’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- ‘to tear’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyp-‘to tear’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīpaną‘to reap’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīpan‘to reap, harvest’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rīpan‘to reap’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150rīpere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reper
- Englishearliest quotation 1913reaper
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyp-‘to tear’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīpaną‘to reap’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīpan‘to reap, harvest’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rīpan‘to reap’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150rīpere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reper
- Englishearliest quotation 1913reaper
Earliest quotation: 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, (please specify the page): “Even as we looked some rumour seemed to have…”
Formed from reap + -er
Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- ‘to tear’
Proto-Germanic *rīpaną ‘to reap’
Proto-West Germanic *rīpan ‘to reap, harvest’
Old English rīpan ‘to reap’
Middle English repen
English reap
The story
From Middle English reper, repare, repere, *riper (the last, attested only in surnames Ryper, Riper, etc.), from Old English rīpere (‘reaper’), equivalent to reap + -er.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- ‘to tear’
river, arrive, rope, ripe, rife, riviera, taser, riparian, rive, 4 more
Today it means
noun One who reaps; a person employed to harvest crops from the fields by reaping.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- / reaper