river
pronunciation
How to pronounce river in British English:
UK [ˈrɪvə(r)]
How to pronounce river in American English:
US [ˈrɪvər]
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- Noun:
- a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
Word Origin
- river
- river: [13] Etymologically, the term river denotes the ‘banks’ of a river, rather than the water that flows between them. Its distant ancestor is Latin rīpa ‘bank’. From this was derived the adjective rīpārius (source of English riparian ‘of a riverbank’ [19]), whose feminine form came to be used in Vulgar Latin as a noun, *rīpāria, denoting ‘land by the water’s edge’.From it evolved Italian riviera ‘bank’ (whence English Riviera [18]) and Old French riviere. This originally meant ‘river bank’, but this subsequently developed to ‘river’, the sense in which English adopted the word. A heavily disguised English relative is arrive, which etymologically denotes ‘come to the shore’.=> arrive, riparian, riviera
- river (n.)
- early 13c., from Anglo-French rivere, Old French riviere "river, riverside, river bank" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *riparia "riverbank, seashore, river" (source also of Spanish ribera, Italian riviera), noun use of fem. of Latin riparius "of a riverbank" (see riparian). Generalized sense of "a copious flow" of anything is from late 14c. The Old English word was ea "river," cognate with Gothic ahwa, Latin aqua (see aqua-). Romanic cognate words tend to retain the sense "river bank" as the main one, or else the secondary Latin sense "coast of the sea" (compare Riviera). U.S. slang phrase up the river "in prison" (1891) is originally in reference to Sing Sing prison, which was literally "up the (Hudson) river" from New York City. Phrase down the river "done for, finished" perhaps echoes sense in sell down the river (1851), originally of troublesome slaves, to sell from the Upper South to the harsher cotton plantations of the Deep South.
Example
- 1. Trading of shares in pike river has been suspended .
- 2. North korean workers on the yalu river , which borders china .
- 3. In london , it 's the river crying foul .
- 4. Opposition politicians blame the government , saying a river project has reduced farmland .
- 5. Arashiyama benkei ryokan is an elegant ryokan ( traditional japanese inn ) by the hozu-gawa river .