reave

[reev]

verb (used with object), reaved or reft, reav·ing. Archaic.

to take away by or as by force; plunder; rob.

Origin of reave

before 900; Middle English reven, Old English rēafian; cognate with German rauben, Dutch roven to rob

reave

[reev]

verb (used with or without object), reaved or reft, reav·ing.

Archaic. to rend; break; tear.

Origin of reave

1175–1225; Middle English; apparently special use of reave¹ (by association with rive)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for reave

Historical Examples of reave

I am doing what I can to reave the heavens of these monsters.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 7 (of 12)
Robert G. Ingersoll
But they try to reave from God, His part, who would be praised of men for good deeds.
The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises
Richard Rolle of Hampole
Not forty Van Hupfeldts nor a legion of ghosts should reave him of those telling pieces of evidence!
The Late Tenant
Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for reave

reave

verb reaves, reaving, reaved or reft (rɛft) archaic

to carry off (property, prisoners, etc) by force
(tr foll by of) to deprive; stripSee also reive

Word Origin for reave

Old English reāfian; related to Old High German roubōn to rob, Old Norse raufa to break open

reave

verb reaves, reaving, reaved or reft (rɛft)

archaic to break or tear (something) apart; cleave

Word Origin for reave

C13 reven, probably from reave 1 and influenced in meaning by rive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reave

Old English reafian "to rob (something from someone), plunder, pillage," from Proto-Germanic *raubjon (cf. Old Frisian ravia, Middle Dutch roven, Dutch rooven, Old High German roubon, German rauben), from PIE *reup- "to snatch" (see rip (v.)). Related: Reaved; reaving.