rave

rave¹ talk wildly; party

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English raven,^[2][3][4][5] probably borrowed from Anglo-Norman raever and an unrecorded Old French *raver,^[6] also written rever, variants of Old French resver (“to dream; to wander; to behave madly”).^{[2][3][4][6][5]} The Old French verb is the source of French rêver (“to dream”), and so of reverie.^[5][7] Its origin is uncertain;^[6][3][8] the OED and Cresswell think it perhaps comes from Latin re- and an unrecorded post-classical Latin *exvagō (“to wander, roam”), from ex- and vagor (“to wander”),^[6][7] and Klein traces it through an unrecorded Old French *esver (“to wander”) to a Vulgar Latin *exvagus (“vagabond”).^[5] The OED finds a derivation from Latin rabere (“to rave”), the source of rabies, hard to square with the sounds.^[6] The Oxford Dictionary of English relates the word obscurely to Low German reven (“to be senseless, rave”).^[9][10] The noun comes from the verb.^[6][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be mad, to show signs of madness or delirium: before 1325, in a legend of the Eleven Thousand Virgins.^[6] Barnhart gives reven before 1325 and raven, to talk wildly, about 1325.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cresswell notes that the sense "to be mad" soon gave way to "to talk wildly".^[7] From the 16th century the verb was used of the sea, the wind or a storm raging (1559),^[6] and since 1569 of ranting about or against something.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to be delirious; to talk irrationally", deriving it from Dutch and French.^[11] The enthusiastic sense, to speak or write about something with great admiration, is recorded in the OED from 1621, in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy,^[6] though Barnhart and Etymonline first find it in Locke, before 1704,^[3][2] and Green's slang dictionary quotes "she raves about" from 1836.^[12] The noun, at first the roaring of the wind (1598) and then a fit of raving (1765),^[6] turned in the 20th century to enthusiasm: an infatuation or craze (1902), a glowing review (1926, American),^[6][3][2] and the adjectival rave notices (1940).^[12] Rave-up was British slang for a wild party from 1940,^[2] rave itself for a lively party with dancing from 1960,^[6][2] and the verb for living it up from 1965.^[6] In 1989 the noun was first used for a large party, often in a warehouse or a field, with electronic dance music,^[6][2][7] and in 1990 the verb for taking part in one.^[6] In northern English and Scots dialect the verb also meant to shout or make a noise.^[13]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to be mad, to show signs of madness.^[6]
• c. 1325 – raven, to talk wildly.^[3]
• 1559 – of the sea or wind, to rage.^[6]
• 1568 – transitive, to utter in a frenzy.^[6]
• 1569 – to rave about or against something.^[6]
• 1598 – noun, the roaring of the wind or a storm.^[6][2]
• 1621 – to speak with great enthusiasm.^[6]
• 1765 – noun, a fit of raving, a frenzy.^[6][14]
• 1902 – an infatuation, a craze.^[6][2]
• 1926 – a glowing review, in American English.^[6][3][2]
• 1940 – rave-up, a wild party,^[2] and rave notices.^[12]
• 1960 – a lively party.^[6][2]
• 1989 – a large dance party with electronic music.^[6][2]
• 1990 – verb, to take part in a rave.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To talk wildly or incoherently, as if delirious or mad: The fevered patient raved all night.^[14][15][6]
2. To speak or shout in an angry, uncontrolled way: He raved about the parking fine for an hour.^[15][6]
3. Of the sea, the wind or a storm, to rage or roar.^[15][14][6]
4. To speak or write about something with great enthusiasm: Critics raved about her first novel.^[15][14][6]
5. (British slang) To enjoy oneself wildly; to go to a rave.^[15][6]
6. (obsolete) To be mad or delirious.^[14][6]

Noun

1. An act of raving; a frenzy.^[14][6]
2. An infatuation or craze.^[14][6][12]
3. An extremely favourable review, often used before a noun: rave reviews.^[14][15][6]
4. A lively party.^[15][6]
5. A large dance party, often all night, with techno or other electronic dance music.^[14][15][6]

Word family

• raver
• raving
• outrave
• rave-up

rave² cart rail

Etymology

The cart rail is probably a dialect variant from English rathe (“a cart rail”),^{[6][10][14][16][15][9]} which the OED records from 1459 and calls of unknown origin.^[6] The OED also allows that, against the order of the records, rathe may instead be the variant of rave.^[6] Klein calls the word of uncertain origin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rail of a cart, especially in the plural for rails or boards added to its sides so that it can carry a bigger load: 1530, in Palsgrave's French–English dictionary.^[6] Dictionary.com dates it 1520–30, and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 16th century.^[16][10]

Semantic evolution

The word was also used for a rung of a ladder (1566–1795),^[6] and in North America from 1840 for a side piece of a sled or a wagon.^[6][10][14] It survives chiefly in English regional use:^[6] Wright found it, also as rafe and reave, from the Midlands to East Anglia and the south-west, for the frame fixed to the sides and front of a wagon to widen it.^[13] In south-western dialect it also meant a strip of wood across an opening and, in weaving, a raddle (both from 1888).^[6]

Timeline

• 1459 – rathe, a rail of a cart.^[6]
• 1530 – rave, a rail of a cart.^[6]
• 1566 – a rung of a ladder (obsolete by 1795).^[6]
• 1840 – in North America, a side piece of a sled.^[6]
• 1888 – in south-western dialect, a strip of wood across an opening.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. One of the upper side pieces of the frame of a wagon or sleigh, or in the plural, the rails or boards added to a cart to hold a bigger load.^{[14][6][10][13]}