rave

rave · noun, verb¹

1. Old French · derived fromraver
2. Middle English · derived fromraven“to rave; talk like a madman”
3. English todayrave

From Middle English raven (“to rave; talk like a madman”), from Old French raver, variant of resver, of uncertain origin. Compare rave below, and rove.

rave · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*webʰ-“to move, swarm, waft”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wab(b)ōną“to sway, waver, swing, shake, wobble, totter, reel, careen”
3. Old Norse · derived fromráfa“to wander, roam”
4. Middle English · inherited fromraven
5. English todayrave

From northern Middle English raven, from Old Norse ráfa (“to wander, roam”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Perhaps from a dissimilation of Proto-Germanic *wab(b)ōną (“to sway, waver, swing, shake, wobble, totter, reel, careen”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to move, swarm, waft”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk rava (“to wander, be delirious”). Doublet of rove. Compare also Middle Dutch reven (“to utter nonsense, rave, be drowsy”) (whence modern Dutch revelen (“to rave, talk nonsense”), Middle Low German rēven (“to be crazy, think and talk nonsensically”), Middle High German reben (“to move about, dream, be confused”) (compare Alemannic German räbeln (“to make loud noise”)).

rave · noun³

English dialect raves, or rathes (“a frame laid on a wagon, for carrying hay, etc.”).

Words from the same roots