Etymograph

English

rife

Rife comes from Proto-Germanic *rībaz ‘generous’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- ‘to tear (off), rip’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyp-1‘to tear (off), rip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rībaz1‘generous’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīb1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150rīfe1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rife1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1634rife1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rife
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1634, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle: “The tumult of loud mirth was rife.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reyp-Wiktionary, English rife‘to tear (off), rip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rībazWiktionary, English rife‘generous’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rībWiktionary, English rifereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150rīfeWiktionary, English rife
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rifeWiktionary, English rife
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1634rifeWiktionary, English rife. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1634, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle: “The tumult of loud mirth was rife.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- ‘to tear (off), rip’

river, arrive, rope, reap, ripe, taser, riviera, riparian, rive, 4 more

Today it means

adj Widespread, common, prevalent, current (mainly of unpleasant or harmful things).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rife”. 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 *h₁reyp- / rife

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