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Origin and history of rise

rise(v.)

Middle English risen, from Old English risan "to rise from sleep, get out of bed; stand up, rise to one's feet; get up from table; rise together; be fit, be proper" (typically gerisan, arisan; a class I strong verb; past tense ras, past participle risen), from Proto-Germanic *us-rīsanan "to go up" (source also of Old Norse risa, Old Saxon risan, Old Frisian risa, "to rise; arise, happen," Gothic urreisan "to rise," Old High German risan "to rise, flow," German reisen "to travel," originally "to rise for a journey"). OED writes, "No related terms have been traced outside of Teutonic"; Boutkan suggests an origin in a lost European substrate language.

From late 12c. as "to rise from the dead," also "rebel, revolt, stand up in opposition." It is attested from c. 1200 in the senses of "move from a lower to a higher position, move upward; increase in number or amount; rise in fortune, prosper; become prominent;" also, of heavenly bodies, "appear above the horizon." To rise and shine "get up, get out of bed" is by 1916 (earlier it was a religious expression). Of seas, rivers, etc., "increase in height," c. 1300.

The meaning "come into existence, originate; result (from)" is by mid-13c. From early 14c. as "occur, happen, come to pass; take place." From 1540s of sound, "ascend in pitch." Also from 1540s of dough. It seems not to have been used of heat or temperature in Middle English; that sense may have developed from the use of the verb in reference to the behavior of fluid in a thermometer or barometer (1650s). Related to raise (v.). Related: Rose; risen.

rise(n.)

c. 1400, "a rebellion, a rising up in opposition;" mid-15c., "place elevated above the common level, piece of rising land;" from rise (v.). General sense of "upward movement" is by 1570s; more specific sense of "vertical height of an object or surface, elevation, degree of ascent" is from 1660s.

Of heavenly bodies, "appearance above the horizon," by 1590s. The meaning "spring, source, origin, beginning" is from 1620s. As "an advance in wages or salary" by 1836 (compare raise (n.)).

The phrase on the rise originally meant "becoming more valuable" (1808). The sense in give rise to "to occasion, cause, bring about" (1705) is the otherwise obsolete meaning "an occasion, a ground or basis" (1640s), which OED writes was "Common c 1650-90." The phrase get a rise out of (someone), by 1829, seems to be a metaphor from angling (1650s) in reference to the action of a fish in coming to the surface to take the bait.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to rise

raise(v.)

c. 1200, reisen, "cause a rising of; lift upright, set upright; build, construct, bring into being," from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse reisa "to raise," from Proto-Germanic *raizjan (source also of Gothic ur-raisjan, Old English ræran "to rear;" see rear (v.)), causative of root *ris- "to rise" (see rise (v.)). At first sharing many senses with native rear (v.1).

Meaning "make higher" is from c. 1300 in the physical sense, as is that of "restore to life." Of the voice, from late 14c. Of sieges, blockades, etc., "remove by or as if by lifting," from late 14c. From early 14c. as "take up by aggregation or collection." The sense of "establish contact with (someone)," originally by radio, is by 1929. Meaning "to elevate" (the consciousness) is from 1970. Related: Raised; raising.

Meaning "increase the amount of" is from c. 1500; from 1530s of prices, etc. Meaning "to bring up" (a question, etc.) is from 1640s. Card-playing sense is from 1821. In reference to plants, etc., "promote with care the growth or development of," from 1660s; sense of "foster, rear, bring up" (of children) is by 1744.

Pickering ["A Vocabulary, or Collection of Words and Phrases Which Have Been Supposed to be Peculiar to the United States of America," 1816] has a long passage on the use of raise and grow in reference to crops. He writes that in the U.S. raise is used of persons, in the sense "brought up," but it is "never thus used in the Northern States." Bartlett [1848] adds that it "is applied in the Southern States to the breeding of negroes. It is sometimes heard at the North among the illiterate; as 'I was raised in Connecticut,' meaning brought up there."

arise(v.)

Middle English arisen, from Old English arisan "to get up from sitting, kneeling, or lying; have a beginning, come into being or action, spring from, originate; spring up, ascend" (cognate with Old Saxon arisan, Gothic urreisan), from a- (1) "of" + rise (v.). Mostly replaced by rise except in reference to circumstances; formerly the choice between the two often was made merely for the sake of rhythm.