rive

English

WOTD – 15 March 2009    

Etymology

From Middle English riven (“to rive”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse rīfa (“to rend, tear apart”), from Proto-Germanic *rīfanan (“to tear, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)reip- (“to crumble, tear”). Cognate with Danish rive (“to tear”), Old Frisian rīva (“to tear”), Old English ārǣfan (“to let loose, unwrap”), Old Norse ript (rift, “breach of contract”), Norwegian rive (“to tear”) and Albanian rrip (“belt, rope”). More at rift.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ɹaɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪv

Verb

rive (third-person singular simple present rives, present participle riving, simple past rived or rove, past participle rived or riven)

1. (transitive, archaic except in past participle) To tear apart by force; to split; to cleave.
2. (transitive, archaic) To pierce or cleave with a weapon.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book II:

     he wente vnto her for to haue taken the swerd oute of her hand but [...] sodenly she sette the pomell to the ground, and rofe her self thorow the body.

3. (intransitive) To break apart; to split.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vi:

     The varlet at his plaint was grieu'd so sore, / That his deepe wounded hart in two did riue [...].

4. In woodworking, to use a technique of splitting or sawing wood radially from a log (e.g. clapboards).

Synonyms

• (to rend asunder): cleave, rend, split

Translations

to rend asunder by force

• Czech: rozštěpit (cs)
• German: aufreißen (de)

• Scottish Gaelic: sgàin (gd)
• Turkish: yırtmak (tr)

(reflexive) to be split or rent

• Czech: rozštěpit (cs) se
• German: (etwas) spalten (de)

• Scottish Gaelic: sgàin (gd)
• Turkish: (bir şeyi) parçalanmak (tr)

See also

• rip
• rib

Noun

rive (plural rives)

1. A place torn; a rent; a rift.

Synonyms

• (a place torn): rent, rift

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Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hrífa.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riːvə/, [ˈʁiːwə]

Noun

rive c (singular definite riven, plural indefinite river)

1. rake

Inflection

    Inflection of rive

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative, dative and accusative	rive	riven	river	riverne
genitive	rives	rivens	rivers	rivernes

Etymology 2

From Old Norse rífa.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riːvə/, [ˈʁiːwə]

Verb

rive (imperative riv, infinitive at rive, present tense river, past tense rev, past participle har revet)

1. rake
2. grate
3. scratch, tear, rip

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French

Etymology

From Latin ripa.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /ʁiv/, X-SAMPA: /Riv/

Noun

rive f (plural rives)

1. bank (of a river)

Anagrams

• ivre
• vire, viré

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French arriver (“happen”)

Verb

rive

1. happen

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Italian

Noun

rive f

1. Plural form of riva

Anagrams

• veri

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Latin

Noun

rīve

1. vocative singular of rīvus

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Norwegian

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hrífa.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riːvə/

Noun

rive n

1. rake

Inflection

    Inflection of rive

	indefinite singular	definite singular	indefinite plural	definite plural

Etymology 2

From Old Norse rífa.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riːvə/

Verb

    Conjugation of rive in Bokmål

Inflection 1

Infinitive active	rive
Infinitive passive	rives
Present active	river
Present passive	rives
Past
Present participle	rivende
Past participle
Imperative	[[ Norwegian|]]

Inflection 2

Infinitive active	rive
Infinitive passive	rives
Present active	river
Present passive	rives
Past
Present participle	rivende
Past participle
Imperative	[[ Norwegian|]]

    Conjugation of rive in Nynorsk

Inflection 1

Infinitive active	rive
Infinitive passive	ast
Present
Past
Present participle	ande
Past participle
Imperative	[[]]

Inflection 2

Infinitive active	rive
Infinitive passive	ast
Present
Past
Present participle	ande
Past participle
Imperative	[[]]

1. rake
2. grate
3. scratch, tear, rip