English
reeve
Reeve comes from Middle English reve ‘a reeve or bailiff’, from Old English rēfa ‘prefect’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō ‘officer, official’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*garāfijō‘officer, official’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rēfa‘prefect’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reve‘a reeve or bailiff’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936reeve
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*garāfijō‘officer, official’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rēfa‘prefect’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reve‘a reeve or bailiff’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936reeve
Earliest quotation: 1936, The Periodical, Oxford University Press: “A list of new titles was manufactured as follows:…”
The story
The role, and eventually the word, was mostly replaced by bailiff, of Anglo-Norman origin.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p- ‘to seize, pluck’
rape, rapid, raptor, ravine, repent, rapture, rapt, rapacious, surreptitious, 13 more
through Proto-West Germanic *ga- ‘used as an intensifier for verbs, indicating…’
through Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō ‘officer, official’
Another origin of reeve
- Dutchc. 1500–presentreven‘to take in, insert’
- Englishtodayreeve
Today it means
noun Any of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō / reeve