▪ I. raven, n.1 (a.)
(ˈreɪv(ə)n)
Forms: α. 1 hraebn, (h)ræfn, ræfen; 3 rauon, 4 ravoun; 3–6 rau-, ravin, -yn, (5 rawyn, -ine, ravyne), 4–5 rau-, ravene, 3–7 rauen, 4– raven. β. 1 (h)refn, 3 reafen, 3–4 reu-, reven, 3–5 reu-, revyn, (4 revon, 5 rewyn), 6 Sc. revin, 7 Sc. reavin. γ. 1 hremn, (h)remm, (h)ræm, 1–3 rem.
[Comm. Teut.: OE. hræfn = MDu. rāven (Du. raaf), OHG. (h)raban (MHG. raben), ON. hrafn (MSw. rafn, Da. ravn), Goth. *hrabn-s (cf. early ON. Harabanar = Hraƀnar, the personal name Hrafn). A normal change of fn to mn, m(m gave also OE. hræmn, hrem(m = OHG. (h)ram (MHG. ram), MSw. ramn, (rampn,) ram(m.
A weak form of the stem appears in OHG. rabo (G. rabe, MLG. rāve): for the relationship of this to MHG. rappe raven (G. rappe a black horse) see Streitberg Urgerm. Gramm. 151.]
A. n.
1. a. A widely distributed corvine bird (Corvus Corax) of Europe and Asia, of large size, with black lustrous plumage and raucous voice, feeding chiefly on carrion or other flesh. The name has also been extended to birds belonging to various other species of Corvus, esp. the American Raven (Corvus carnivorus).
The common raven is easily tamed, but is mischievous and thievish, and has been popularly regarded as a bird of evil omen and mysterious character.
| α a 800 Erfurt Gloss. 285 Corax, hraebn. c 850 O.E. Martyrol. Jan. 10, Þa..fedde hine an hræfn sextiᵹ ᵹeara. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xii. 24 Behaldað ða ræfnas þætte ne sawæð ne hriopað. c 1220 Bestiary 408 Ðe rauen is swiðe redi..& oðre fules hire fallen bi. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 312/452 Al þat oþur del with-Inne swiþe blak as a rauon it is. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 455 Þe rauen so ronk þat rebel was euer. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 153 Vowltures, egles, rauyns, and oþer fewlez of rauyne. c 1450 Holland Howlat 215 The Ravyne, rolpand rudly in a roche ran. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 63 The rauen wyll not gyue her blacke pennes for the pecockes paynted fethers. c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. i, Like the sad-presaging raven, that tolls The sick man's passport in her hollow beak. 1656 S. Holland Zara (1719) 130 Thou art always (like the Raven) croaking my infortunity and disgrace. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 144/2 Pens made of Ravens Quills..are to finish and shadow your draught. 1766 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1768) I. 166 Ravens build in trees, and lay five or six eggs. Ibid. 167 The raven will pick out the eyes of young lambs when just dropped. 1822 Scott Pirate v, If the men of Thule have ceased..to spread the banquet for the raven [etc.]. 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 132 Till in the cold wind that foreruns the morn,..the Raven, flying high, Croak'd. |
| β Beowulf (Z.) 3025 Se wonna hrefn fus ofer fæᵹum. c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxlvi. 9 Se seleð neatum mete heara & briddum hrefna. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xii. 24 Besceawiað þa hrefnas [c 1160 Hatton MS. refnes] þæt hiᵹ ne sawað. a 1225 Ancr. R. 84 He..mid his bile, roted stinkinde fleshs, as is reafnes kunde. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 63 Al that other del with-inne blac as a reven is. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 761/33 Hic cornix, a rewyn. 1486 Bk. St. Albans D ij, That hawke that will slee a Roke or a Crow or a Reuyn. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 117 Thae tarmegantis..begowth to clatter, And rowp lyk revin and ruke. c 1630 Sir W. Mure Ps. cxlvii. 9 Of reavens who heares The yong ones, when they call. |
| γ c 1000 ælfric Gen. viii. 7 Noe..asende ut ænne hremn; se hremn fleah þa ut [etc.]. c 1000 ― Saints' Lives (Skeat) I. 492 Ðær fluᵹon sona to hrocas and hremmas. c 1205 Lay. 30392 Habben bares heorte and remes brede. |
† b. Indian raven, the name given by Bontius to two East Indian birds (see
quots. 1678).
Obs.| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. ii. vii. 126 Bontius his Indian Raven. There is a strange kind of Raven in the Molucca Islands..which resembles our Country Raven in the bill. Ibid. viii. 127 The horned Indian Raven or Tapau, called the Rhinoceros Bird. 1752 Sir J. Hill Hist. Anim. 383 Buceros niger..in shape somewhat resembles the crow kind, whence, and from it's size, it has been called the Indian Raven. |
c. fig. A croaker.
| 1814 Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1861) II. 301, I have done my duty honestly in my correspondence with government on this subject; but I am not sure that I shall not be voted an incorrigible raven. |
2. a. The figure of a raven on the flag of the Danish vikings; also, the flag itself or the warlike power typified by this.
| a 1100 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 878 Þar wæs se guðfana ᵹenumen þe hi ræfen heton. 1605 Camden Rem., Armories (1870) 228 The Danes [bore] in their Standard a Raven, as Asserius reporteth. a 1711 Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 313 The mighty Hildebrand the Raven rears, A magick Flag. 1740 Thomson & Mallet Alfred ii. iii, Behold the warrior bright with Danish spoils!—The raven droops his wings. 1856 C. Knight Pop. Hist. Eng. I. vii. 100 The banner of the White Horse floated triumphantly over the Danish raven. |
b. Her. The figure of a raven as borne in arms.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xvii. 162 Hee beareth Or, a Raven proper, by the name of Corbet. 1780 Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry II. Gloss. |
† 3. Astron. The southern constellation
Corvus.
= crow 4.
Obs. rare.
| [c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 496 How goddes gonne stellifye Brid, fish, beste, or him or here, As the Raven, or either Bere.] 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 270 The Rauen standeth on the same Hydre,..and it is formed of 7 starres. |
4. attrib. (see also B.) and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as
raven kind,
raven quill; similative, as
raven-black,
raven-glossy,
raven-grey,
raven-like,
raven-shadowing adjs.;
raven-wise adv.; parasynthetic, as
raven-coloured,
raven-feathered,
raven-haired,
raven-plumed,
raven-toned adjs.; instrumental, as
raven-covered,
raven-torn adjs.| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxvii, My Mistersse [sic] eyes are *Rauen blacke. 1857 C. Brontë Professor x, Raven-black hair, very dark eyes. |
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 83 Her *Rauen coloured loue. 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 265 The raven-colored mantle of night. |
| 1895 W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Usheen in Poems 7 We think on Oscar's pencilled urn, And on the heroes lying lain, On Gabhra's *raven-covered plain. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 8 The starless gloom of *raven-feather'd night. |
| 1700 Dryden Cymon & Iph. 151 The snowy skin, the *raven-glossy hair. |
| 1815 Scott Guy M. xix, Two suits of clothes, one black, and one *raven-grey. |
| 1844 Thackeray May Gambols Wks. 1900 XIII. 427 The dark-eyed and *raven-haired being. |
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Corvus indicus,..a bird of the *raven kind. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxii. 82 Said Mrs. A― in her most *raven-like tones. |
| 1827 J. Evans Excurs. Windsor 353 The *raven-plumed gulph of oblivion. |
| 1776–96 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 232 Stem solid..1½ inch high thick as a *raven quill. |
| 1950 C. Day Lewis in Penguin New Writing XXXIX. 22 A driven heart, a *raven-shadowing mind Loom above all my pastorals. |
| 1797 Southey in J. Cottle Reminisc. (1847) 210 The very voice..will be enough to convict the *raven-toned criminal. |
| 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. ii. §11. 211 The carcass of a ewe..*raven-torn. |
| 1891 Atkinson Last of Giant-killers 61 Nests, built *raven-wise one a-top of the other. |
b. Special combs., as
raven-bone = raven's bone (see c);
raven-cockatoo, a black cockatoo (of the genus
Calyptorhynchus);
raven-crow = raven 1;
raven-duck [
ad. G.
rabentuch], a kind of canvas (also
raven's duck);
raven-fish [
tr. It. coracino], a black-coloured Mediterranean fish;
† raven-foot (see
quot.);
† raven messenger = corbie messenger corbie 2;
raven standard:
cf. raven 2 a;
raven-stone [
ad. G.
rabenstein], the place of execution, the gallows or gibbet;
raven-tree, a tree in which ravens build their nests.
| 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. ix, Disputing..concerning nombles, briskets, flankards, and *raven-bones, then usual terms of the art of hunting. |
| 1817 T. Forster Nat. Hist. Swallow-tribe 68 Corvus corax, the Raven, Great corbiecrow, or *Ravencrow. |
| 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. ii. xiv. 61 Sail-cloth, sheetings, *ravenducks and drillings. 1827 Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. 36 In exchange we gave them ravenduck, osnaburg, [etc.]. |
| 1755 T. H. Croker Orl. Fur. vi. xxxvi, The salmon, mullet, *raven-fish. |
| c 1265 Voc. Names Plants in Wr.-Wülcker 556/3 Pollipodium, poliol, *reuenfot. |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1892 (Gött.) Þat messager..þat duellis lang in his iornay, He may be cald, wid resun clere, An of the *rauyns messagere. |
| 1822 Scott Pirate xv, To see our barks..with the black *raven standard waving at the topmost. |
| 1817 Byron Manfred iii. i. 74 The raven sits On the *raven-stone. 1871 B. Taylor Faust i. xxiv, What weave they there round the raven-stone? |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 23 July 13/1 The ‘*raven tree’ is all that remains..to remind one of the former existence of these birds in those localities. 1908 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 284/1 Nearly every parish had its ‘raven-tree’. |
c. Combs. with
raven's, as
† raven's bill, a surgical instrument resembling the bill of a raven;
† raven's bone (see
quots., and
cf. corbin-bone s.v. corbin b);
raven's book, the list of the dead (
nonce-use);
raven's duck = raven-duck (Simmonds 1858);
raven's eye, a species of toadstool;
† raven's morsel = corbel's fee corbel n. 1.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 14 b/2, The *Ravens bille, in L. called Rostrum corvinum. |
| 1575 Turberv. Venerie xliii. 135 There is a litle gristle which is vpon the spoone of the brysket, which we cal the *Rauens bone, bycause it is cast vp to the Crowes or Rauens whiche attende hunters. 1637 B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. ii, Mar. The brisket bone, upon the spoon Of which a little gristle grows; you call it― Rob. The raven's bone. |
| 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. iii. (1855) 53, I am fairly in the *raven's book. |
| 1761 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 28 Apr. 4/3 Just Imported..Russia and *ravens duck. 1775 in New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1863) VII. 4, 120 Tents, to be made of Raven's duck. 1868 G. G. Channing Recoll. Newport 200 A miller called one day at the store to purchase a piece of ravensduck, with which to make or to repair sails for his windmill. 1931 Sun (Baltimore) 12 Jan. 6/6 Hemp sails, known as raven's duck, were used, the cotton duck being unknown at that time. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I 181 Perhaps the plants that through such an error have been most frequently gathered are, the Medusa's head, the *raven's eye, the hemlock mushroom, and the agaricus muscarius. |
| c 1500 Wyl Bucke's Test. A ij b, The *rauens morsell, sticke hit on a thorne faste. 1575 Turberv. Venerie xlii. 129 The rauens morsell (which is the gryssell at the spoone of the brisket). |
B. attrib. passing into adj. Of the colour of a raven; glossy black; intensely dark or gloomy.
| 1634 Milton Comus 251 Smoothing the Raven doune Of darknes. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1088 Thus o'er the prostrate city black Despair Extends her raven wing. 1761 Gray Odin 66 A wondrous boy..Who ne'er shall comb his raven-hair. 1813 Byron Giaour ix, Here loud his raven charger neigh'd. 1822 Scott Pirate iii, From her mother Minna inherited the..dark eyes, the raven locks. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. i, Let darkness keep her raven gloss. |
Hence (
nonce-wds.)
ˈravendom, the community of ravens;
ˈravenhood, the state of being a raven;
ˈravenling, a young raven.
| 1870 Stewart Nether Lochaber xix. 112 Permitted by the laws of ravendom. 1889 Gd. Words 483/2 That raven grew to the fullest stature of lusty ravenhood. 1896 E. J. Harding Slav Tales 258 The old raven started off, and Niezginnek still held the ravenling. |
▪ II. raven, n.2 see
ravin1.
▪ III. raven, v. (
ˈræv(ə)n)
Forms: 6
rau-,
ravyne, 6–7
rau-,
ravine, 7
rauin,
-yn, 7, 9
ravin; 5–7
rau-, 6–7, 9
raven.
[ad. OF. raviner to ravage:—L. *rapīnāre, f. rapīna: see rapine, ravin1.] † 1. trans. To take (goods) away by force; to seize or divide as spoil.
Obs.| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxxvii. 274 His mouable goodys were spoyled and rauenyd amonge y⊇ kynges offycers. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 356 Ravening and destroying his goodes, they spoyled his wife and chyldren of all theyr apparell. 1593 Queen Elizabeth Boeth. i. pr. iii. 7 While they be busy to rauyne vnproffitable baggage. |
† b. Const.
from prep.,
away adv. Obs.| 1602 Carew Cornwall 3 The encroaching Sea hath rauined from it the whole Countrie of Lionnesse. 1621 Hakewill David's Vow 237 Hee..sought to eat him up, and to raven all hee could get from him. 1657 G. Thornley Daphnis & Chloe 175 Nor had the Wolf raven'd away so much as one. |
c. absol. or intr. To plunder; to seek
after, to go
about, with intent to plunder.
| 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars i. vii, [Blood-thirsting Warre] Transferd by fortune to the Scottish meare, To ransack that, as it had rauin'd heere. 1621 Molle Camerar. Liv. Lib. ii. xvi. 125 He goes unto the wars to filch and rauen. 1670 Cotton Espernon iii. ix. 442 That they might not be disturbed whilst busie ravening after Booty. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xx. iv. VI. 92 His Croats and loose hordes went openly ravening about. |
2. To devour voraciously. Also
fig.| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Ezek. xxii. 25 Like a roaring lion rauening the pray. a 1571 Jewel On 1 Thess. (1611) 91 The fishes belly destroieth those things which they rauine. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado, etc. (1878) 278 A Lion new returnde from rauening pray, Came to the fount, his blood to wash away. 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 510 Clusters of grapes, the which they raven'd quick. 1875 Lowell Poet. Wks. (1879) 458/2 'Gainst Self's lean wolf that ravens word and deed. |
b. So with
up,
down,
in. Now
rare.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. ii, They rauen vp more butter then all the dayes of the weeke beside. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 833 Certain young men..like greedie Harpies ravened it downe in a moment. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 303 If he rauen it in, as he wil do hauing much at a time. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 648 Saturn and Mars..with a fierce hunger destroy and raven up the friendly Properties and Preservatives of Life. 1814 Cary Dante, Inf. xxxii. 124 As bread Is raven'd up through hunger. |
3. intr. or absol. To eat voraciously; to feed hungrily or greedily; to prey
on or
upon. Also
fig.| 1530 Palsgr. 679/2, I ravyne, I eate hastyly or gredyly. Je briffe. He is an horryble lurtcher, se how he ravyneth. 1575–85 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 128 For greedy cormorants to raven upon. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 56 The fish Polipus..doeth rauen vppon other fishes. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety ix. §1. 299 Those wild irregular flames which ravine and consume. 1811 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 164 Our printers ravin on the agonies of their victims. 1862 S. Lucas Secularia 376 They equally ravened on a smaller community. |
b. To have a ravenous appetite or desire
for.
| 1667 Dryden Wild Gallant iv. ii, She..ravens mightily for green fruit. 1687 ― Hind & P. iii. 964 The more they fed, they ravened still for more. 1883 T. Foster in Knowledge 20 July 38/1 Beasts..ravening for blood and slaughter. |
c. To have an intense longing for food. Also
fig.| 1858 Bushnell Serm. New Life 66 Those divine affinities in us that raven with immortal hunger. 1881 Blackw. Mag. CXXIX. 194 If I know anything of your constitution..you must have been ravening hours ago. |
4. intr. To prowl ravenously; to go about in search of food.
| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Gen. xlix. 27 Beniamin shall rauine (as) a wolfe. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 155 b, Let them want no meate, for if they doe, they will for hunger rauen abroad. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 124 His feet..which are his strength and instrument of action to raven and prey with. 1877 M. M. Grant Sun-Maid i, Fierce fiery lions went ravening to and fro. |
| fig. 1851 Dixon W. Penn xxvi. (1872) 236 Persecution had ravened through the land. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 17 The unclean pestilence ravins in your streets. |
Hence
ˈravened ppl. a., ? glutted.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 24 Maw, and Gulfe Of the rauin'd salt Sea sharke. |