English
ree
Ree comes from Old English hrēoh ‘rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- ‘raw meat, fresh blood’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krewh₂-‘raw meat, fresh blood’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hreuhaz‘bad, wild’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hrēoh‘rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed, troubled, stormy, tempestuous’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rei
- Englishearliest quotation 1756ree
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krewh₂-‘raw meat, fresh blood’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hreuhaz‘bad, wild’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hrēoh‘rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed, troubled, stormy, tempestuous’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rei
- Englishearliest quotation 1756ree
Earliest quotation: 1756, Margaret Calderwood, Mrs Calderwood's Journey: “I saw,", says I, "he was a ree-brained divell,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- ‘raw meat, fresh blood’
Another origin of ree
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreyt-‘to wind’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrīþō‘sudden attack’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hríð‘storm’
- Englishtodayree
Today it means
adj Wild; fierce; outrageous; overexcited; frenzied; delirious; crazy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.