Etymograph

English

ravine

Ravine comes from French ravin ‘a gully’, from Old French raviner ‘to pillage, sweep down, cascade’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p- ‘to take away, snatch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reh₁p-1‘to take away, snatch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁r̥h₁pyéti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rapjō1‘to seize, take away’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapiō1‘to snatch (oneself)’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapīna2‘robbery, plundering, pillage, rapine’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400raviner2‘to pillage, sweep down, cascade’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentravin2‘a gully’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1905ravine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin rapina
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ravine
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett: “Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reh₁p-Wiktionary, Latin rapina‘to take away, snatch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁r̥h₁pyétiWiktionary, Latin rapinareconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rapjōWiktionary, Latin rapina‘to seize, take away’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapiōWiktionary, Latin rapina‘to snatch (oneself)’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapīnaWiktionary, English ravine‘robbery, plundering, pillage, rapine’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ravinerWiktionary, English ravine‘to pillage, sweep down, cascade’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentravinWiktionary, English ravine‘a gully’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1905ravineWiktionary, English ravine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett: “Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p- ‘to take away, snatch’

grave, repent, 16 more

through Proto-Italic *rapjō ‘to seize, take away’

8 more

through Latin rapiō ‘to snatch (oneself)’

rape, rapid, rapture, raptor, 10 more

Today it means

noun A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ravine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin rapina. 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 *h₁reh₁p- / ravine

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