ret

See also: rét, rêt, rết, and Ret.

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɹɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Etymology 1

From Middle English retten, reten; perhaps from Middle Dutch rēten, reeten (compare Middle Low German rōten; Middle High German rōzen), or from Old Norse reyta (compare Norwegian røyta, Swedish röta); all from Proto-Germanic *rautijaną (“to make mellow or soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewd- (“to tear; rend; rip”). Related to rot.

Verb

ret (third-person singular simple present rets, present participle retting, simple past and past participle retted)

1. (transitive) To prepare (flax, hemp etc.) for further processing by soaking, which facilitates separation of fibers from the woody parts of the stem.
   • 1989, Keith Bosley, translating Elias Lönnrot, The Kalevala, XLVIII:

     the hemp was retted / and soon the retting was done / and swiftly it was hung up / and hurriedly it was dried […].

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, page 621:

     the lowland nearly silent except for water-thrushes, the harvested fields, the smell of hops being dried in kilns, flax pulled up and piled in sheaves, in local practice not to be retted till the spring

Derived terms

• retter

Translations

to soak linen, hemp etc.

• Dutch: roten (nl)
• Finnish: liottaa (fi)
• French: rouir (fr)
• Galician: cocer (gl)

• German: rotten (de)
• Greek: μουσκεύω (el) (mouskévo)
• Italian: macerare (it)
• Swedish: röta (sv)
• Westrobothnian: sönkj

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

Adjective

ret

1. retired

Translations

retired

• Greek: ε.α. (el) (e.a.)

Anagrams

• ERT, ETR, TER, ert, ter, ter-

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Acehnese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rʌt/
• (Banda Aceh) IPA^(key): [rɛt]

Noun

ret

1. road

References

• Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈret/

Etymology 1

From Latin rete (“net”).

Noun

ret m (plural rets)

1. hairnet

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

ret

1. third-person singular present indicative form of retre
2. second-person singular imperative form of retre

Further reading

• “ret” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *rъtъ. Compare Russian рот (rot, “mouth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛt/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

ret m inan

1. lip

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	ret	rty
genitive	rtu	rtů
dative	rtu	rtům
accusative	ret	rty
vocative	rte	rty
locative	rtu	rtech
instrumental	rtem	rty

Derived terms

• rtěnka f

Further reading

• ret in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• ret in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛt/, [ˈʁad̥], [ˈʁɑd̥]
• Homophone: rat

Etymology 1

From Old Norse réttr, from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz, cognate with Swedish rätt, rät, English right, German recht, gerecht. The Germanic adjective goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós, hence Latin rēctus (“straight”), Ancient Greek ὀρεκτός (orektós, “stretched out”).

Adjective

ret (plural and definite singular attributive rette)

1. straight

   en ret linje

   a straight line

2. right, proper
3. rightful

   den rette arving

   the rightful heir

   Synonym: retmæssig Antonym: uretmæssig

4. plain (in knitting)

   Antonym: vrang

Adverb

ret

1. straight
2. rightly, properly
3. rather, quite

   Han er ret høj.

   He is rather tall.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse réttr, from Proto-Germanic *rehtuz, related to the adjective *rehtaz. The Danish word has been influenced by the German cognates Recht (“right, law”) and Gericht (“court”). The meaning “course of food” is influenced by Middle Low German richte and German Gericht.

Noun

ret c (singular definite retten, plural indefinite retter)

1. (uncountable) justice, law

   Synonyms: jura, lov, justits

2. court, courtroom, lawcourt (institution)
3. courtroom (physical location)
   • 2016, Louise Damløv, Cecilie Kallestrup, Tre meter fra Breivik: En beretning fra Nordens største terrorretssag, Informations Forlag (→ISBN)

     Kun omkring halvdelen af de vidner, forsvaret havde indkaldt for at sandsynliggøre, at Breiviks ideologi ikke var galemandssnak, mødte op i retten.

     Only about half of the witness that the defense had summoned to support that Brevik's ideology was not the talk of a madman appeared in court.

   • 2017, Nadine Gordimer (tr. by Finn Holten Hansen), Æresgæst, Lindhardt og Ringhof (→ISBN)

     Retten var fyldt, og ansigter blev ved med at kigge ind ad vinduerne fra en voksende mængde udenfor.

     The courtroom was full, and faces kept looking in through the windows from a growing crowd outside.

   Synonym: retssal

4. (uncountable) right, entitlement

   Alle mennesker har ret til basal respekt.

   All humans have a right to basic respect.

   Synonym: rettighed

5. dish, course (of food)
6. (uncountable) right side (e.g. of a fabric')

Inflection

Declension of ret

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ret	retten	retter	retterne
genitive	rets	rettens	retters	retternes

References

“ret,1” in Den Danske Ordbog “ret,2” in Den Danske Ordbog “ret,3” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

ret

1. imperative of rette

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Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English red.

Adjective

ret

1. red

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Westrobothnian

Etymology

Derived from riit.

Noun

ret

1. (hunting) A flag or stake that is used as a signal in the seal hunting grounds, or as you put on the boat to find it again among the icebergs when departing from it to hunt.

Verb

ret

1. The singular active preterite indicative of riit.