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Origin and history of rife

rife(adj.)

Old English rife "abundant, of common occurrence, prevalent," often of hurtful or obnoxious things, from Proto-Germanic *rif- (source also of Old Norse rifr, Swedish river, Norwegian riv, Middle Dutch riif, Middle Low German rive "abundant, generous"), said to be from PIE root *rei- "to scratch, tear, cut." "The prevalence of the word in early southern texts is in favour of its being native in English, rather than an adoption from Scandinavian." [OED]

Trends of rife

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

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prevailing
1590s, "vigorous;" 1680s, "widely accepted, generally current," present-participle adjective from prevail (v.). Related: Prevailingly. Prevalent and prevailing are sometimes the same, and in two senses, that of exceeding in strength, as the prevalent (or prevailing) opinion was
prevalent
early 15c., "having great power or force, controlling, ruling," from Latin praevalentem (nominative praevalens) "of superior strength; mighty," present participle of praevalere "to be more able," from prae "before" (see pre-) + valere "have power, be strong" (from PIE root *wal-
predominant
1570s, "ruling; controlling; exerting power, authority, or influence," from French prédominant (14c.), from Medieval Latin *praedominantem (nominative praedominans), present participle of *praedominare, from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + dominari "to rule, dominate, to govern,
dominant
mid-15c., dominaunt, in ordre dominaunt, the name of the fourth order of angels, from Old French dominant (13c.) and directly from Latin dominantem (nominative dominans), present participle of dominari "to rule, dominate, to govern," from dominus "lord, master," from domus "house
river
early 13c. (late 12c. in surnames), "a considerable body of water flowing with perceptible current in a definite course or channel," from Anglo-French rivere, Old French riviere "river, riverside, river bank" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *riparia "riverbank, seashore, river" (source
trespass
c. 1300, "transgress in some active manner, commit an aggressive offense, to sin," from Old French trespasser "pass beyond or across, cross, traverse; infringe, violate," from tres- "beyond" (from Latin trans; see trans-) + passer "go by, pass" (see pass (v.)). Meaning "enter unl
Abyssinia
old name for Ethiopia, 1630s, from Modern Latin Abyssinia, from Arabic Habasah, the name for the region, said to be from Amharic hbsh "mixed" or Arabic habash "mixture," in reference to the different races dwelling there. In 1920s-30s popular as a slang pun for the parting saluta
gig
"light, two-wheeled carriage, usually drawn by one horse" (1791), also "small boat," 1790, perhaps imitative of bouncing. There was a Middle English ghyg "spinning top" (in whyrlegyg, mid-15c.), also "giddy girl" (early 13c., also giglet), from Old Norse geiga "turn sideways," or
diamond
mid-14c., diamaunt, diamond, "extremely hard and refractive precious stone made of pure or nearly pure carbon," from Old French diamant, from Medieval Latin diamantem (nominative diamas), from Vulgar Latin *adiamantem (which was subsequently altered by influence of the many Greek
Mississippi
originally the name of the river, from the French rendering of an Algonquian name (French missionaries first penetrated the river valley in its upper reaches) meaning "big river;" compare Ojibwa mshi- "big," ziibi "river." Organized as a U.S. territory 1798; admitted as a state 1
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Dictionary entries near rife