raven
pronunciation
How to pronounce raven in British English:
UK [ˈreɪvn]
How to pronounce raven in American English:
US [ˈrevən]
-
- Noun:
- large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail
-
- Verb:
- obtain or seize by violence
- prey on or hunt for
- eat greedily
- feed greedily
Word Origin
- raven
- raven: English has two separate words raven. The bird-name [OE] is a general Germanic term, related to German rabe, Dutch raaf, and Danish ravn. It goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *khrabnaz or *khraben, which originated in an imitation of the raven’s harsh croaking. The verb raven ‘prey, plunder’ [15], nowadays encountered virtually only in its present participle ravening and the derived ravenous, goes back ultimately to Latin rapere ‘seize by force’.=> rape, rapture, ravenous
- raven (n.)
- Old English hræfn (Mercian), hrefn; hræfn (Northumbrian, West Saxon), from Proto-Germanic *khrabanaz (cognates: Old Norse hrafn, Danish ravn, Dutch raaf, Old High German hraban, German Rabe "raven," Old English hroc "rook"), from PIE root *ker- (2), imitative of harsh sounds (cognates: Latin crepare "to creak, clatter," cornix "crow," corvus "raven;" Greek korax "raven," korone "crow;" Old Church Slavonic kruku "raven;" Lithuanian krauklys "crow"). Raven mythology shows considerable homogeneity throughout the whole area [northern regions of the northern hemisphere] in spite of differences in detail. The Raven peeps forth from the mists of time and the thickets of mythology, as a bird of slaughter, a storm bird, a sun and fire bird, a messenger, an oracular figure and a craftsman or culture hero. [Edward A. Armstrong, "The Folklore of Birds," 1958]Old English also used hræmn, hremm. The raven standard was the flag of the Danish Vikings. The Quran connects the raven with Cain's murder of Abel; but in Christianity the bird plays a positive role in the stories of St. Benedict, St. Paul the Hermit, St. Vincent, etc. It was anciently believed to live to great old age, but the ancients also believed it wanting in parental care. The vikings, like Noah, were said to have used the raven to discover land. "When uncertain of their course they let one loose, and steered the vessel in his track, deeming that the land lay in the direction of his flight; if he returned to the ship, it was supposed to be at a distance" [Charles Swainson, "The Folk Lore and Provincial Names of British Birds," London, 1886].
Example
- 1. Then the raven flew over her , screaming again as he flew .
- 2. This resembles raven , but is a flying bomb , packed with explosives .
- 3. Aerovironment , based in monrovia , calif. , designed the 4.2-pound , hand-launched raven aircraft currently used by united states military forces in iraq and afghanistan .
- 4. As I see it , raven is one of the reasons why the u. s.ag industry will continue to do well even if the economy tanks again .
- 5. The next month a raven went awol again , this time because of a programming error that sent it south .