reach

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riːtʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rechen,^[2][3] inherited from Old English rǣċan (“to reach out, stretch out, hold forth; to succeed in touching; to offer, give”),^[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *raikijaną,^[3][4] the source also of Old Frisian rēka, Middle Low German rēken, Dutch reiken and Old High German and German reichen.^[4][5][6] Old Norse reik “parting of the hair” is related.^[4][2] Outside Germanic, Barnhart compares Old Irish ríag “torture” and Lithuanian ráižytis “to stretch oneself”, from Proto-Indo-European *reiĝ-,^[4] which Etymonline glosses “to stretch, be stiff”.^[3] The Middle English past tense was raught (Old English rǣhte), still used by Shakespeare, until reached appeared about 1400.^[5][3] The noun is from the verb.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English rǣcan, “to extend, hold forth”, is found about 725 in Beowulf;^[4] the OED's first example of stretching out the hand is from about 897.^[7] Middle English rechen is from probably before 1200.^[4]

Semantic evolution

“To arrive at, succeed in getting to” is attested by the early 14th century,^[3] and “to hand to someone, give” by about 1300.^[3] “To succeed in influencing” is from the 1660s.^[3] The noun is first a stretch of water: a bay from 1526^[4] and a straight part of a river between bends from 1536.^[4][2] The power of comprehension is a reach from 1542,^[4] the distance one can reach from before 1548,^[4][3] an act of reaching from 1570,^[4][7] and the limit or scope of extension from the 1570s.^[3] Out of one's reach is by the 1690s,^[3] and Browning wrote “a man's reach should exceed his grasp”.^[3] Reach-me-down, “ready-made” of clothes, is from 1862.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English rǣcan.^[4]
• c. 1300 – to hand to someone.^[3]
• early 14th century – to arrive at.^[3]
• 1526 – noun, a bay.^[4]
• 1536 – a stretch of river.^[4]
• before 1548 – the distance one can reach.^[4]
• 1570 – an act of reaching.^[4][7]
• 1660s – to influence.^[3]
• 1862 – reach-me-down.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To stretch out a hand or arm in order to touch or grasp something.
2. To arrive at; to get as far as.
3. To extend as far as: the rope won't reach.
4. To succeed in contacting or communicating with.
5. To succeed in influencing or affecting.
6. To hand to someone.

Noun

1. The distance or extent that someone or something can reach.
2. The range of someone's power, influence or understanding.
3. An act of reaching.
4. A continuous stretch of water, especially a straight part of a river.

Word family

• reachable
• reacher
• reachability
• unreached
• unreachable
• far-reaching
• forereach
• outreach

Related words

• retch
• overreach

Usage notes

A separate reach, “to spit, clear the throat, retch”, from Old English hrǣcan, is obsolete except in dialect;^[6][5] it is a variant of retch.^[6][2]

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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press