English
reaver
Reaver comes from Middle English revere ‘a robber or burglar’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to peel’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-‘to peel’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubaz‘rape, pillage, robbery’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubārijaz‘robber, spoiler, reaver’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rēafere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revere‘a robber or burglar’
- Englishearliest quotation 1999reaver
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-‘to peel’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubaz‘rape, pillage, robbery’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubārijaz‘robber, spoiler, reaver’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rēafere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revere‘a robber or burglar’
- Englishearliest quotation 1999reaver
Earliest quotation: 1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf: “nobody knows where these reavers from hell roam in…”
Formed from reave + -er
Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to snatch’
Proto-Germanic *raubōną ‘to rob, steal, plunder’
Proto-West Germanic *raubōn ‘to rob, steal, plunder’
Old English rēafian ‘to plunder’
Middle English reven ‘to steal, or rob’
English reave
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to peel’
route, corruption, rob, corrupt, robbery, disrupt, robe, eruption, rover, rout, rupture, erupt, 22 more
Today it means
noun One who reaves; a plunderer, marauder, or pillager.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- / reaver