raven

From Middle English raven, reven, from Old English hræfn, from Proto-West Germanic *hrabn, from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz (“raven”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱrep-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- (“to croak, crow”).

• enPR: rāʹvən, IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪvən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvən

raven (countable and uncountable, plural ravens)

2. (countable) Any of several, generally large and lustrous black species of birds in the genus Corvus, especially the common raven, Corvus corax.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The whilſt their owne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittiful.

3. A jet-black color.

   raven:  

   • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:

     A lone man walks the shores of Nantucket; his noble form is slightly bent, and with the raven of his hair is blended the faintest tinge of gray, though he is evidently a man to whom the meridian of life is yet far in the distance […]

raven (not comparable)

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

   raven curls; raven darkness

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

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

• ravin, ravine

• enPR: răvʹən, IPA^(key): /ˈɹævən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ævən

raven (uncountable)

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

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.
   • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 93:

     And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to devour, shall suddenly die.

   • 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 nature and qualities of hogges, and also the gouernement thereof”, in The First Booke of Cattell‎^[1], London:

     […] 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, chapter 8, in The Book of Were-Wolves‎^[3], London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 114:

     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^[4], London: Victor Gollancz, published 1932, act 3, page 237:

     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.

• ravener
• ravening
• ravenous, ravenously, ravenousness

• Corvus corax on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Verna

Borrowed from English rave. By surface analysis, rave +‎ -en.

• IPA^(key): /ˈreː.və(n)/

raven

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

   Raven is leven. ― To rave is to live.

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, rave2	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. 2) In case of inversion.

Original form of raaf which represents a rebracketing of this form and which existed alongside it since (late) Middle Dutch. The singular raven persisted in some dialects until at least the 18th century.

• IPA^(key): /ˈraːvə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːvən

raven m (plural ravens or ravenen, diminutive raventje n)

1. Obsolete form of raaf.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈraːvə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːvən

raven

1. plural of raaf

• ervan, varen

From Rave +‎ -en, possibly after English (to) rave.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʁɛɪ̯vn̩/

raven (weak, third-person singular present ravt, past tense ravte, past participle geravt, auxiliary haben) (or as past participle: geraved)

1. (colloquial) to rave (to attend a rave)
   • 2018 March 15, Julian Weber, “Kepler 452b-Rave”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[5], →ISSN, page 26:

     Es wird geravt im Funkhaus Nalepastraße. „Kepler 452b“ klingt danach, Lichtjahre von der Realität entfernt zu sein. Motto des Techno-Performance-Festivals: „nonprofit und nomadisch“, Levitation pur.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Rave
• Raver

• “raven” in Duden online
• “raven” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Old Dutch ravan, from Proto-West Germanic *hrabn.

rāven m

1. raven

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• rāvene
• rāve

• Dutch: raaf, (all obsolete) raef, raven, raaven, raeven
  • Afrikaans: raaf
  • → Sranan Tongo: rafru
• Limburgish: raof

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

From Proto-Slavic *orvьnъ.

• IPA^(key): /ràːʋən/

rávən (comparative rávnejši, superlative nȁjrávnejši)

1. even, level

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

• ravȃn (archaic)

• rávnost

• “raven”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “raven”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

raven

1. definite plural of rave