rathe
Americanadjective
adjective
-
blossoming or ripening early in the season
-
eager or prompt
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rathe
before 900; Middle English; Old English hræth, hræd quick, active; cognate with Dutch rad, Old Norse hrathr
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In that he is precocious, and, like the rathe primrose, will "forsaken die."
From In a Green Shade A Country Commentary by Hewlett, Maurice Henry
Rather is the comparative of the old adjective rathe = early, from which comes the idea of preference.
From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd
Whereof the effect be—faith That, some far day, were found Ripeness in things now rathe, Wrong righted, each chain unbound, Renewal born out of scathe.
From Browning's England A Study in English Influences in Browning by Clarke, Helen Archibald
To rede, lit. for a counsel, i.e. advisable, 118, 693; spelt to rathe, 2542.
From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown
The robin piped his morning song for him; The wild crab there exhaled its rathe perfume; The loon laughed loud and by the river's brim The water willow waved its verdant plume.
From The Hills of Hingham by Sharp, Dallas Lore
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
