English
raise
Raise comes from Old Norse reisa ‘to raise’, from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, causative of *rīsaną ‘to rise’, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- ‘to rise’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rey-1‘to rise, arise’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīsaną1‘to rise’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raisijaną1‘to raise’reconstructedcausative form of *rīsaną
- Old Norsec. 800–1350reisa1‘to raise’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reysen1‘to cause to stand up’
- Englishearliest quotation 1593raise1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […]: “May it pleaſe your Grace that I ſhall raiſe…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rey-Wiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen‘to rise, arise’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīsanąWiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen‘to rise’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raisijanąWiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen‘to raise’reconstructedcausative form of *rīsaną
- Old Norsec. 800–1350reisaWiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen‘to raise’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reysenWiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen‘to cause to stand up’
- Englishearliest quotation 1593raiseWiktionary, English raise, which cites Kroonen. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […]: “May it pleaſe your Grace that I ſhall raiſe…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with raise, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- ‘to rise, arise’
- rear ← reren ← rǣran ← *raiʀijan ← *raizijaną
through Proto-Germanic *rīsaną ‘to rise’
- rise ← risen ← rīsan ← *rīsan
3 more relatives in the full family tree
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Another origin of raise
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krewH-‘to heap up’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hreysi‘a pile or heap of stones’
- Englishtodayraise
Borrowed from Old Norse hreysi; the spelling came about under the influence of the folk etymology that derived it from the verb.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.
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Today it means
verb To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “raise”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- / raise