raid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹeɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is a Scottish and northern English form, inherited from Old English rād (“a riding, journey; expedition, raid”), the source of road,^[2][3][4][5] cognate with Old Norse reið (“a riding, raid”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A military expedition on horseback, a hostile incursion: about 1425.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The word fell into obscurity after the 16th century, except for a place where ships may anchor (a roadstead),^[2][7] and was revived by Sir Walter Scott in The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805) and Rob Roy (1818).^[2][3] Any sudden or vigorous descent, as by the police, is by 1873,^[3] and the air raid by 1908.^[3][6] The verb, to take part in a raid, is from 1864–65,^[3][2] and to make a raid on a place from 1880.^[2] In Scots, a raid was also a ridiculous enterprise.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – a mounted foray.^[2][6]
• 1805 – revived by Scott.^[2]
• 1864 – the verb.^[3]
• 1873 – a police raid.^[3]
• 1908 – an air raid.^[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sudden armed attack on an enemy, especially a brief one.
2. A sudden visit by the police to search premises or arrest people.
3. An attack to steal something: a bank raid.
4. (finance) An attempt to buy enough shares to take control of a company.

Verb

1. To make a raid on.
2. To take things from a place without permission: raid the fridge.

Word family

• raider
• counterraid
• unraided
• air raid
• panty raid

Related words

• road
• ride
• inroad

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)