Etymograph

English

razee

Razee comes from French raser ‘to rase, to cut down ships’, from Old French raser ‘to shave’, and ultimately from Latin rāsus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErāsus1
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*rāsāre1‘shave’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400raser1‘to shave’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentraser2‘to rase, to cut down ships’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentvaisseau rasé2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838razee2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French raser
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English razee
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Edmund Fanning: “an old line-of-battle ship, (21 years of age,) cut…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErāsusWiktionary, French raser
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*rāsāreWiktionary, French raser‘shave’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400raserWiktionary, French raser‘to shave’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentraserWiktionary, English razee‘to rase, to cut down ships’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentvaisseau raséWiktionary, English razee
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838razeeWiktionary, English razee. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Edmund Fanning: “an old line-of-battle ship, (21 years of age,) cut…”

Linked words

through Latin rāsus

race, rash, 3 more

through Old French raser ‘to shave’

razor, 1 more

Today it means

noun An armed ship with its upper deck cut away, and thus reduced to the next inferior rate, such as a seventy-four cut down to a frigate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “razee”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French raser. 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 / Latin rāsus / razee

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