Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of ravage

ravage(v.)

"devastate, lay waste, despoil," 1610s, from French ravager "lay waste, devastate," from Old French ravage "destruction," especially by flood (14c.), from ravir "to take away hastily" (see ravish). Related: Ravaged; ravaging.

ravage(n.)

"desolation or destruction wrought by the violent action of men or beasts," or by time, grief, etc., 1610s, from French ravage "destruction" (14c.), from ravir "to take away hastily" (see ravish). Related: Ravages (by 1630s).

also from 1610s

Entries linking to ravage

ravish(v.)

c. 1300, ravishen, "to seize (someone) by violence, carry away (a person, especially a woman)," from Old French raviss-, present-participle stem of ravir "to seize, take away hastily," from Vulgar Latin *rapire, from Latin rapere "to seize and carry off, carry away suddenly, hurry away" (see rapid). Since the earliest uses in English "sometimes implying subsequent violation" [OED]; the meaning transferred "commit rape upon" is recorded by mid-15c. In Middle English also "to plagiarize; to transport (someone) mentally into an ecstasy." Related: Ravished; ravishing.

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trends of ravage

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    harry
    Old English hergian "make war, lay waste, ravage, plunder," the word used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for what the Vikings did to England, from Proto-Germanic *harjon (source also of Old Frisian urheria "lay waste, ravage, plunder," Old Norse herja "to make a raid, to plunder,"
    desolate
    mid-14c., of persons, "disconsolate, miserable, overwhelmed with grief, deprived of comfort;" late 14c., of persons, "without companions, solitary, lonely;" also, of places, "uninhabited, abandoned," from Latin desolatus, past participle of desolare "leave alone, desert," from de
    scourge
    c. 1200, "a whip used for inflicting pain or punishment, a lash used for torture," from Anglo-French scorge, escorge, back-formation from Old French scurge, eschurge "a whip, scourge, thong," from escorgier "to whip," which is from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare. This is a compound o
    despoil
    c. 1200, despoilen, "rob, plunder, ravage;" c. 1300, "strip off" (clothes, armor, etc.); from Old French despoillier "to...
    people
    Based on Italic cognates and derivatives such as populari "to lay waste, ravage, plunder, pillage," Populonia, a surname...
    sweat
    Middle English sweten, from Old English swætan "perspire, excrete moisture from the skin," also "toil, labor, work hard," from Proto-Germanic *swaitjan "to sweat," from the source of sweat (n.). Compare Frisian swette, Dutch zweeten, Danish svede, German schwitzen. The meaning "b
    depredation
    "act of plundering, pillaging," late 15c. (Caxton), from Old French depredacion (15c., Modern French déprédation), from Late Latin depraedationem (nominative depraedatio) "a plundering," from past-participle stem of Latin depraedari "to pillage," from de- "thoroughly" (see de-) +
    ruin
    late Old English, "act of giving way and falling down" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin ruina "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down" (source also of Old French ruine "a collapse," Spanish ruina, Italian rovina), which is a derivative of ruere "to rush, fall violently, co
    destruction
    c. 1300, destruccioun "ruin;" early 14c., "act of destroying, devastation; state of being destroyed," from Old French destruction (12c.) and directly from Latin destructionem (nominative destructio) "a pulling down, destruction," noun of action from past-participle stem of destru
    demolition
    1540s, figurative, "destruction, overthrow;" 1610s, literal, "action of pulling down or destroying (a structure); fact of being demolished," from French demolition "demolition; defeat, rout" (14c.), from Latin demolitionem (nominative demolitio), noun of action from past-particip

    Share ravage

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near ravage
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.