reef

Both English words reef come from Old Norse rif (“rib”), but by different routes: one names a ridge of rock, the other a strip of sail.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹiːf/^[3]

reef¹ ridge of rock

Etymology

The ridge of rock is early modern borrowed from Dutch riffe (modern rif) and Middle Low German rif,^[4][2][5] from a Scandinavian source like Old Norse rif (“rib; ridge in the sea”),^[6][2][4] related to rib.^[6][1][7] The English form was riff at first.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A ridge of rock, sand or shingle at or near the surface of the water: 1579 in the OED,^[4] 1584 in Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively a reef is a hidden hazard on which a plan may founder, from 1841.^[4] Australian gold miners used it from 1852 for a vein of gold-bearing quartz,^[4][9] and in South Africa the Reef is the gold-mining region of the Witwatersrand (1903).^[4] It was extended to low coral islands and to raised areas of the sea bottom.^[6]

Timeline

• 1579 – a ridge of rock near the surface.^[4]
• 1841 – figurative, a hidden hazard.^[4]
• 1852 – a vein of gold-bearing quartz (Australia).^[4]
• 1903 – the Reef, the Witwatersrand.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A ridge of rock, sand or coral at or just below the surface of the sea.
2. A vein of ore, especially gold-bearing quartz.

reef² part of a sail

Etymology

The part of a sail is inherited from Middle English riff,^[2][7][10] from a Scandinavian source like Old Norse rif (“reef of a sail”),^[2][6][4] probably the same word as rif "rib, ridge" in a transferred use;^[2][6] Hoad and SOED take it through Middle Dutch rif.^[11][5] The OED instead derives the Scandinavian word from the base of rífa (“to tear”), as a strip of fabric.^[4] The spelling reef dates from 1667.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the compound rifrope, a rope for tying down a reef: 1336–37, in a naval account;^[2][4] riff alone before 1393, in Gower.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to take in a reef, is from 1667–70.^[2][10] To take in a reef, figuratively to proceed more cautiously, is from before 1547,^[4] and a tuck in a garment or belt from 1840.^[4] reefer, a close-fitting jacket, is from the 19th century.^[11]

Timeline

• 1336–37 – rifrope.^[2]
• before 1393 – riff, a reef of a sail.^[2]
• before 1547 – figurative, take in a reef.^[4]
• 1667 – the spelling reef; the verb.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A part of a sail that can be rolled or folded up to reduce its area in strong winds.

Verb

1. To reduce the area of a sail by taking in a reef.

Word family

• reefer
• reef knot
• reef point

Related words

• rib

References

1. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press