raven

See also: Raven and räven

English

Etymology 1

A raven (bird).

From Middle English raven, reven, from Old English hræfn, from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz (compare Icelandic hrafn, Dutch raaf, German Rabe, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ravn, Norwegian Nynorsk ramn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorh₂-. Compare Middle Irish crú, Latin corvus, Lithuanian šárka (“magpie”), Serbo-Croatian svrȁka ‘id.’, Ancient Greek κόραξ (kórax)), from *ḱer-, *ḱor-. Compare furthermore Latin crepō (“I creak, crack”), Sanskrit कृपते (kṛpate, “he laments, he implores”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: rāʹvən, IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪvən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvən

Noun

raven (plural ravens)

1. Any of several, generally large and lustrous black species of birds in the genus Corvus, especially the common raven, Corvus corax.

Derived terms

• Australian raven ()
• brown-necked raven ()
• Chatham raven ()
• Chihuahuan raven ()
• common raven (Corvus corax)
• dwarf raven ()
• fan-tailed raven ()
• forest raven ()
• little raven ()
• New Zealand raven ()
• northern raven (Corvus corax)
• pied raven
• raven-messenger
• relict raven ()
• Somali raven ()
• Tasmanian raven ()
• thick-billed raven ()
• western raven ()
• white-necked raven ()

Translations

bird

• Adyghe: къолэжъ (qʷolɛẑ), цунды (cʷundə)
• Afrikaans: kraai (af)
• Albanian: korb (sq) m
• Arabic: غُرَاب m (ḡurāb), زَاغ m (zāḡ)

  Egyptian Arabic: غراب m (ḡurāb)

• Armenian: ագռավ (hy) (agṙav)
• Aromanian: corbu m
• Asturian: cuervu m
• Avar: чӏегӏергъеду (čʼeʻerğedu), нухъа (nuqxa)
• Bashkir: ҡоҙғон (qoźğon)
• Basque: erroi (eu)
• Belarusian: крумка́ч m (krumkáč), во́ран m (vóran)
• Breton: bran (br) m, marc'hvran (br) m
• Bulgarian: га́рван (bg) m (gárvan)
• Catalan: corb (ca) m
• Chechen: хьаргӏа (ḥʳarğa)
• Chichewa: khungubwi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 烏鴉／乌鸦 (zh) (wūyā), 乌鸦 (zh) (wūyā), 渡鴉／渡鸦 (zh) (dùyā), 渡鸦 (zh) (dùyā)

• Coptic: ⲁⲃⲱⲕ m (abōk) (Bohairic)
• Cornish: bran vras f
• Czech: krkavec (cs) m
• Danish: ravn (da) c
• Dutch: raaf (nl) m
• Elfdalian: kuorp m
• Esperanto: korvo (eo), korako (eo)
• Estonian: kaaren, ronk (et), korp
• Ewe: akpaviã
• Faroese: ravnur (fo) m, krunkur m, gorpur m
• Finnish: korppi (fi), kaarne (fi)
• French: grand corbeau (fr) m
• Friulian: corvat m
• Galician: corvo carnazal (gl) m, corvo (gl) m
• Georgian: ყორანი (q̇orani)
• German: Rabe (de) m, Kolkrabe (de) m
• Greek: κόρακας (el) m (kórakas), κοράκι (el) n (koráki)

  Ancient: κόραξ m (kórax)

• Greenlandic: tulugaq
• Haida: Template:t-simple
• Halkomelem: Template:t-simple

  Vancouver Island: Template:t-simple

• Hebrew: עורב (he) ('orév), עורב שחור m ('orév shakhór)
• Hindi: काला कौआ m (kālā kauā)
• Hungarian: holló (hu)
• Icelandic: hrafn (is) m, krummi (is) m
• Inari Sami: káránâs
• Indonesian: gagak besar
• Ingrian: korppi
• Ingush: хьаргӏа (ḥʳarğa)
• Irish: fiach m, fiach dubh m, bran m (literary)

  Old Irish: bran m, fïach m, trogan m

• Italian: corvo imperiale m
• Japanese: 渡り鴉 (ワタリガラス, watarigarasu), 大鴉 (オオガラス, ōgarasu)
• Kabardian: вынд (vənd)
• Kannada: ಕಾರ್ಗೊರಲಕಾಗೆ (kārgoralakāge)
• Karok: xutnásak
• Korean: 큰까마귀 (keunkkamagwi)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Kwak'wala: Template:t-simple
• Kyrgyz: карга (ky) (karga)
• Ladin: corf ?
• Latgalian: krauklis m
• Latin: corvus m
• Latvian: krauklis m
• Lithuanian: kranklys (lt) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Low German:

  German Low German: Raav (nds) f, Roov (nds) f, Raw m

• Lule Sami: runnka, gárránis, gárjjá
• Luxembourgish: Ramm f
• Macedonian: га́вран m (gávran)
• Maltese: għarab m
• Mansi:
• Manx: feeagh m, feeagh mooar m
• Maore Comorian: kwai class 5/6
• Marathi: डोमेकाव्ळा (ḍomekāvḷā)
• Mi'kmaq: gjiga'qaquj anim
• Mongolian: хар хэрээ (xar xeree)
• Montagnais: kakatshu
• Nahuatl: cacalotl (nah)
• Nanticoke: uck-quack
• Navajo: zhį́ʼii
• Northern Sami: gáranas, bulddogas, garjá
• Norwegian: ravn (no) m
• Occitan: còrb (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: вранъ m (vranŭ)
• Old English: hræfn m
• Old Norse: hrafn m, korpr m
• Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰆𐰕𐰍𐰆𐰣 (quzǧun¹ /⁠quzɣun⁠/)
• Ottoman Turkish: قوزغون (kuzgun)
• Persian: زاغ (fa) (zâğ), کلاغ (fa) (kalâğ), غراب (fa) (ğorâb)
• Polish: kruk (pl) m anim
• Portuguese: corvo (pt) m
• Proto-Norse: ᚺᚨᚱᚨᛒᚨᚾᚨᛉ ? (harabanaʀ)
• Romani: kakarachi m, kakarachka f
• Romanian: corb (ro) m
• Romansch: corv grond m
• Russian: во́рон (ru) m (vóron)
• Saanich: Template:t-simple, Template:t-simple
• Sardinian: corbu ?, crobu m, corvu ?, colbu ?, colvu ?
• Scots: corbie
• Scottish Gaelic: fitheach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: га̏вра̄н f

  Roman: gȁvrān (sh) f

• Sicilian: corvu (scn) m, corbu (scn) m
• Skolt Sami: käärnõs
• Slovak: krkavec m
• Slovene: krokar (sl) m, vran (sl) m (poetic)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wron m, grampak m

  Upper Sorbian: rapak m

• Southern Sami: gaarenasse, krungke
• Spanish: cuervo grande m
• Swahili: kunguru (sw) class 9/10
• Swedish: korp (sv) c
• Tajik: зоғ (tg) (zoġ)
• Tibetan: ཀ་ཀ (ka ka), ཀ་གཉིས་པ (ka gnyis pa), བྱ་རོག (bya rog), ཁྭ (khwa)
• Tlingit: yéil
• Turkish: kuzgun (tr)
• Ukrainian: во́рон m (vóron), крук m (kruk)
• Unami: winkeòhkwèt
• Uzbek: kuzg'un
• Venetian: corvo m, corf m
• Vilamovian: rōw f
• Volapük: rab (vo)
• Votic: ronka
• Welsh: brân (cy) f, cigfran f
• West Frisian: raven c
• White Hmong: tus noog uab lag, tus uab lag
• Yiddish: ראָב (rob)
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

Adjective

raven (not comparable)

1. Of the color of the raven; jet-black

   raven curls

   raven darkness

   She was a tall, sophisticated, raven-haired beauty.

Derived terms

terms derived from raven

• nonraven
• raven-black
• raven-haired
• ravenhood

• raven standard

Translations

of the color of the raven; jet-black

• Dutch: ravenzwart (nl)
• Esperanto: korva (eo)
• Finnish: korpinmusta
• French: noir corbeau
• German: rabenschwarz (de)
• Greek: κορακίσιος (korakísios), κορακί (korakí)

  Ancient: κοράκινος (korákinos)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: hollófekete (hu)
• Italian: corvino (it)
• Norwegian: ravnsort, ravnsvart
• Romanian: corbiu (ro)
• Swedish: korpsvart, ramsvart (sv)
• Volapük: rabablägik

Etymology 2

From Middle English ravene, ravine, from Old French raviner (“rush, seize by force”), itself from ravine (“rapine”), from Latin rapina (“plundering, loot”), itself from rapere (“seize, plunder, abduct”).

Alternative forms

• ravin, ravine

Pronunciation

• enPR: răvʹən, IPA^(key): /ˈɹævən/
• Rhymes: -ævən

Noun

raven (plural ravens)

1. Rapine; rapacity.
2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.

Translations

rapine; rapacity

• Finnish: ryöstö (fi)
• Portuguese: rapina (pt) f, voraz (pt) m or f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: rapacitate (ro) f

prey; plunder; food obtained by violence

• Finnish: saalis (fi)
• German: Beute (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: pradă (ro) f

Verb

raven (third-person singular simple present ravens, present participle ravening, simple past and past participle ravened)

1. (transitive, archaic) To obtain or seize by violence.
2. (transitive) To devour with great eagerness.
   • 1938, P.G. Woodhouse, The Code of the Woosters,

     I refer to the danger of keeping a dog of this nature and disposition in a bedroom, where it can spring out ravening on anyone who enters.

3. (transitive) To prey on with rapacity.

   The raven is both a scavenger, who ravens a dead animal almost like a vulture, and a bird of prey, who commonly ravens to catch a rodent.

4. (intransitive) To show rapacity; to be greedy (for something).
   • 1587, Leonard Mascall, The First Booke of Cattell, London, “The nature and qualities of hogges, and also the gouernement thereof,”^[1]

     […] because hogs are commonly rauening for their meat, more then other cattel, it is meet therefore to haue them ringed, or else they wil doe much hurt in digging and turning vp corne fieldes […]

   • 1852, Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Old Nurse’s Story” in The Old Nurse’s Story and Other Tales,^[2]

     They passed along towards the great hall-door, where the winds howled and ravened for their prey […]

   • 1865, Sabine Baring-Gould, The Book of Were-Wolves, London: Smith, Elder & Co., Chapter 8, p. 114,^[3]

     The Greek were-wolf is closely related to the vampire. The lycanthropist falls into a cataleptic trance, during which his soul leaves his body, enters that of a wolf and ravens for blood.

   • 1931, James B. Fagan, The Improper Duchess, London: Victor Gollancz, 1932, Act 3, p. 237,^[4]

     On one side the great temple where you can gather the good harvest—on the other a dirty little scandal that you’ve nosed out to fling to paper scavengers who feed it to their readin’ millions ravening for pornographic dirt.

Related terms

• ravener
• ravening
• ravenous, ravenously, ravenousness

Further reading

• raven on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Template:projectlink

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “raven”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. [5]

Anagrams

• Verna

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Dutch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English rave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈreːvə(n)/

Verb

raven

1. to (hold a) rave, to party wildly

Inflection

Conjugation of raven (weak)
infinitive	raven
past singular	ravede
past participle	geraved
infinitive	raven
gerund	raven n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	rave	ravede
2nd person sing. (jij)	ravet	ravede
2nd person sing. (u)	ravet	ravede
2nd person sing. (gij)	ravet	ravede
3rd person singular	ravet	ravede
plural	raven	raveden
subjunctive sing.1	rave	ravede
subjunctive plur.1	raven	raveden
imperative sing.	rave
imperative plur.1	ravet
participles	ravend	geraved
1) Archaic.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraːvə(n)/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːvən

Noun

raven

1. (deprecated template usage) Plural form of raaf

Anagrams

• ervan, varen

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch ravan, from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz.

Noun

rāven m

1. raven

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• rāvene
• rāve

Descendants

• Dutch: raaf
  • Afrikaans: raaf
  • → Sranan Tongo: rafru
• Limburgish: raof

Further reading

• “raven”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “raven”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

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Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *orvьnъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ràːʋən/

Adjective

rávən (comparative rávnejši, superlative nȁjrávnejši)

1. even, level

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Hard
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nom. sing.	ráven	rávna	rávno
singular
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ráven ind rávni def	rávna	rávno
genitive	rávnega	rávne	rávnega
dative	rávnemu	rávni	rávnemu
accusative	nominativeinan or genitiveanim	rávno	rávno
locative	rávnem	rávni	rávnem
instrumental	rávnim	rávno	rávnim
dual
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	rávna	rávni	rávni
genitive	rávnih	rávnih	rávnih
dative	rávnima	rávnima	rávnima
accusative	rávna	rávni	rávni
locative	rávnih	rávnih	rávnih
instrumental	rávnima	rávnima	rávnima
plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	rávni	rávne	rávna
genitive	rávnih	rávnih	rávnih
dative	rávnim	rávnim	rávnim
accusative	rávne	rávne	rávna
locative	rávnih	rávnih	rávnih
instrumental	rávnimi	rávnimi	rávnimi

Alternative forms

• ravȃn (archaic)

Derived terms

• rávnost