Etymology

ret

R1E1T1

Today it means: To prepare (flax, hemp etc.) for further processing by soaking, which facilitates separation of fibers from the woody parts of the stem. Full definition →

Middle English retten ← Middle Dutch rēten ← Old Norse reyta
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ret · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*rewd-“to tear; rend; rip”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*rautijaną“to make mellow or soft”
  3. Old Norse · derived fromreyta
  4. Middle Dutch · derived fromrēten
  5. Middle English · derived fromretten
  6. English todayret

From Middle English retten, reten; perhaps from Middle Dutch rēten, reeten (compare Middle Low German rōten; Middle High German rōzen), or from Old Norse reyta (compare Norwegian røyta, Swedish röta); all from Proto-Germanic *rautijaną (“to make mellow or soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewd- (“to tear; rend; rip”). Related to rot.

ret · adjective2

Abbreviation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.