raise

Pronunciation

• IPA: /reɪz/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English reisen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old Norse reisa (“to raise, cause to rise”),^[4][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *raizijaną,^[4] the causative of the root of rise.^[4] It is cognate with Gothic urraisjan and Old English rǣran, the source of rear, with which it at first shared many senses.^[4][5] The noun is from the verb.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lift up, set upright, build, give rise to: probably about 1200, in the Ormulum.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

“To make higher” in the physical sense, and “to restore to life”, are from about 1300.^[4] “To collect, levy” is from the early 14th century.^[4] Raising the voice and lifting a siege are from the late 14th century.^[4][5] “To increase the amount of” is from about 1500, and of prices from the 1530s.^[4] “To bring up a question” is from the 1640s,^[4] to grow plants or animals from the 1660s,^[4] and to bring up children by 1744, a use that Pickering's 1816 glossary of Americanisms discusses at length.^[4] The card-playing sense is from 1821.^[4] To contact someone by radio is by 1929,^[4] and to raise consciousness from 1970.^[4] The noun meant a levy about 1500,^[6][2] an increase in amount from 1728,^[2][6] and an increase in wages from 1898 in Barnhart and 1884 in Etymonline, chiefly American, where British English prefers rise.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – to lift up, build.^[2]
• c. 1300 – to make higher; to raise from the dead.^[4]
• late 14th century – to raise a siege.^[4]
• c. 1500 – noun, a levy; to increase.^[6][4]
• 1660s – to grow plants.^[4]
• 1728 – noun, an increase.^[2][6]
• 1744 – to bring up children.^[4]
• 1884 – a pay rise.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To lift or move to a higher position.
2. To set upright; to erect or build.
3. To increase in amount, degree or intensity: to raise prices.
4. To bring up children; to grow crops or breed animals.
5. To bring up for discussion: to raise a question.
6. To collect money or troops.
7. To end a siege.
8. To increase a bet in poker.

Noun

1. (chiefly US) An increase in pay.
2. An increase in amount or a higher bid.

Word family

• raiser
• raisable
• fundraise
• upraise
• reraise

Related words

• rise
• rear
• arise

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press