Etymologically
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raise

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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

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