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River

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river¹

  • /ˈɹɪvə/ UK
  • [ˈɹʷɪvə] UK
  • /ˈɾɪvə/ Wales
  • [ˈɾɪvə] Wales
  • /ˈɹɘvɘ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɹʷɘvɘ] New Zealand
  • /ˈɹɪvɚ/ US
  • [ˈɹʷɪvɚ] ~ [ˈɹʷɪvɹ̩] US
  • /ˈɾɪvəɾ/ Scotland
  • [ˈɾɪvəɾ] Scotland
  • /ˈɹɪvəɹ/ Scotland
  • [ˈɹɪvəɹ] Scotland

Rhymes with -ɪvə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁réyp-eh₂

Proto-Italic *reipā

Latin rīpa

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -ārius

Latin rīpārius

Early Medieval Latin rīpāria

Anglo-Norman rivierebor.

Middle English ryver

English river

From Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Early Medieval Latin rīpāria (“littoral, riverbank”), from Latin rīpārius (“of a riverbank”), from Latin rīpa (“river bank”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to scratch, tear, cut”). Unrelated to Latin rīvus (“stream”) (whence rival, derive). Doublet of riviera and rivière. Displaced native Old English ēa.

noun rivers

  1. A large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, oftentimes ending in another body of water, such as an ocean or in an inland sea. Occasionally rivers overflow their banks and cause floods.
  2. Any large flow of a liquid in a single body. a river of blood
  3. The last card dealt in a hand. He called instantly but was too ashamed to show until the river.
  4. A visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines happening to coincide.

Similar: large, river, small, brooklet, burnlet, ree, rill, rith, rithe, rivulet, runlet, streamlet

verb rivers · rivering · rivered

  1. To improve one’s hand to beat another player on the final card in a poker game. Johnny rivered me by drawing that ace of spades.

river²

  • /ˈɹaɪvə/ UK
  • /ˈɹaɪvɚ/ US

Rhymes with -aɪvə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp-

Proto-Germanic *rīfaną

Old Norse rífabor.

Middle English riven

English rive

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English river

From rive + -er.

noun rivers

  1. One who rives or splits.

Similar: large, river, small, brooklet, burnlet, ree, rill, rith, rithe, rivulet, runlet, streamlet

River³

Where it comes from

From river.

proper noun Rivers

  1. countable, uncountable A unisex given name. Wash: Little River gets more colorful by the moment. What'll she do next? Zoe: Either blow us all up or rub soup in our hair. It's a toss-up. Wash: I hope she does the soup thing, it's always a hoot and we don't all die from it.
  2. countable, rare, uncountable A surname.
  3. countable, uncountable A suburban village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2943).
  4. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Tillington parish, Chichester district, West Sussex, England (OS grid ref SU9322).
  5. countable, uncountable A township in Red Lake County, Minnesota, United States.

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