Advertisement

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

Origin and history of rift

rift(n.)

early 14c., "a split, a breaking, an act of tearing or rending," from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish and Norwegian rift "a cleft," Old Icelandic ript (pronounced "rift") "breach;" related to Old Norse ripa, rifa "to tear apart, break a contract" (see riven). Probably influenced in Middle English by rive (v.).

From late 14c. as "a cleft, fissure, or chasm in the earth;" by c. 1400 as "a crack, split, or similar opening" in anything. Figurative use from 1620s. Specific modern geological sense of "large fault running parallel to the relief" is by 1921. As a verb, c. 1300, "to split, form fissures, gape open."

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to rift

rive(v.)

"tear in pieces, strike asunder," c. 1200, from a Scandinavian or North Sea Germanic source akin to Old Norse rifa "to tear apart," from Proto-Germanic *rifanan "to tear, scratch" (compare Swedish rifva, Danish rive "scratch, tear"), from PIE root *rei- "to scratch, tear, cut" (see riparian).

riven(adj.)

"split, cloven, burst asunder," c. 1300, past-participle adjective from rive "to tear, rend."

riparian(adj.)

"of or pertaining to river banks, situated on or near a river bank," 1849, with -an + Latin riparius "of a river bank," from riparia "shore," later used in reference to the stream flowing between the banks, from ripa "(steep) bank of a river, shore."

This is probably etymologically "break" (and indicating the drop off from ground level to the stream bed), or else "that which is cut out by the river," from PIE root *rei- "to scratch, tear, cut" (source also of Greek ereipia "ruins," eripne "slope, precipice;" Old Norse rifa "break, to tear apart;" Danish rift "breach," Middle High German rif "riverbank, seashore;" English riven, rift).

Riparious, of animals, "living on or in river banks," is from 1650s.

    Advertisement

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

    Trends of rift

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

    More to explore

    rupture
    late 14c., in medicine, "act of bursting or breaking," in reference to a vessel, etc. of the body, from Old French rupture and directly from Latin ruptura "the breaking (of a vein), fracture (of an arm or leg)," from past-participle stem of rumpere "to break" (from PIE root *runp
    breach
    Old English bryce "a fracture, act of breaking," from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (source also of Old Frisian breke "a burst, crack, demolition (of a house)," Old Saxon bruki, Old High German bruh, Middle Dutch broke), a noun from *brekanan (source of Old English  brecan "to shat
    break
    Old English brecan "to divide solid matter violently into parts or fragments; to injure, violate (a promise, etc.), destroy, curtail; to break into, rush into; to burst forth, spring out; to subdue, tame" (class IV strong verb; past tense bræc, past participle brocen), from Proto
    cleft
    1570s, alteration (by influence of cleft, new weak past participle of cleave (v.1)), of Middle English clift "fissure, rift...
    score
    late Old English scoru "twenty," from Old Norse skor "mark, notch, incision; a rift in rock," also, in Icelandic, "twenty...
    brake
    mid-15c., "instrument for crushing or pounding," from Middle Dutch braeke "flax brake," from breken "to break" (see break (v.)). The word was applied to many crushing implements, especially the tool for breaking up the woody part of flax to loosen the fibers. It also was applied
    baker
    Old English bæcere "baker, one who bakes (especially bread)," agent noun from bacan "to bake" (see bake (v.)). Cognate with Dutch bakker, German Bäcker, Becker. In the Middle Ages, the craft had two divisions, braun-bakeres and whit-bakeres. White bakers shall bake no hors brede
    breakup
    also break-up, "a disruption, dissolution of connection, separation of a mass into parts," 1795, from verbal expression break up "separate, dissolve" (mid-15c.); see break (v.) + up (adv.). The verbal phrase was used of plowland, later of groups, assemblies, etc.; of things (also
    schism
    late 14c., scisme, sisme, cisme, "outward dissension within the church," producing two or more parties with rival authorities, from Old French scisme, cisme "a cleft, split" (12c.) and directly from Church Latin schisma, scisma (in Medieval Latin also cisma), from Greek skhisma (
    gap
    early 14c., "an opening in a wall or hedge; a break, a breach," mid-13c. in place names, from Old Norse gap "chasm, empty space," related to gapa "to gape, open the mouth wide," common Proto-Germanic (cognates: Middle Dutch, Dutch gapen, German gaffen "to gape, stare," Swedish ga

    Share rift

    Advertisement

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

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near rift
    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.