bereave

The story

1. Old English · derived fromberēofan“to bereave, deprive, rob of”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*biraubōną
3. Old English · inherited fromberēafian“to bereave, deprive of, take away, seize, rob, despoil”
4. Middle English · inherited frombireven
5. English todaybereave

Inherited from Middle English bireven, from Old English berēafian (“to bereave, deprive of, take away, seize, rob, despoil”), from Proto-Germanic *biraubōną, and Old English berēofan (“to bereave, deprive, rob of”); both equivalent to be- + reave. Cognate with Dutch beroven (“to rob, deprive, bereave”), German berauben (“to deprive, rob, bereave”), Danish berøve (“to deprive of”), Norwegian berøve (“to deprive”), Swedish beröva (“to rob”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌱𐍉𐌽 (biraubōn).