Etymograph

English

ripe

Ripe comes from Old English rīpe ‘ripe, mature’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- ‘to snatch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyb-‘to snatch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīpijazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīpīreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150rīpe‘ripe, mature’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ripe
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyb-‘to snatch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīpijazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīpīreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150rīpe‘ripe, mature’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ripe
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “[…] he answer'd, "Do not so; / Slubber not…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb-

Another origin of ripe

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyp-‘to tear, tear down’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁réyp-eh₂‘steep slope’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*reipā‘river bank’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEripa‘bank (of a river)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ripe
  6. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

adj Of a fruit, vegetable, seed, etc., ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- / ripe

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