Etymograph

English

reef

Reef comes from Old Norse rif ‘rib, reef’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- ‘arch, ceiling, cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-1‘arch, ceiling, cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ribją1‘rib, reef’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350rif1‘rib, reef’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rif1
  5. Englishtodayreef1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English reef

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-Wiktionary, English reef‘arch, ceiling, cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ribjąWiktionary, English reef‘rib, reef’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350rifWiktionary, English reef‘rib, reef’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rifWiktionary, English reef
  5. EnglishtodayreefWiktionary, English reef

The story

Dutch rif (‘reef’), Low German riff, reff (‘reef’), German Riff (‘reef, ledge’) are also borrowed from Old Norse.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *ribją ‘rib, reef’

rib, 2 more

through Middle English rif

riff

Another origin of reef

  1. Old Norsec. 800–1350rifuncertain
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reef
  3. Englishtodayreef

Possibly a figurative use of the word for “rib” in etymology 1 above, in which case all forms must, again, be borrowings from Old Norse. Alternatively it may be a different word related to Old English rift (‘curtain, veil’), ārāfian (‘to uncoil, wind off’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Another origin of reef

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kreup-‘scab, crust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hreubaz‘rough, scabby, scrubby’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrēof‘rough, scabby, leprous", also "a leper’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ref
  5. Englishtodayreef

Today it means

noun A chain or range of rocks, sand, or coral lying at or near the surface of the water.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “reef”. 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 *h₁rebʰ- / reef

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