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ravine

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Etymology and origin of the French word ravine

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1100–1150 Cambridge Psalter More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin rapīna
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French ravine
English ravine
Derivations

Forms

ravine f (plural ravines)[1] Old French raveine, rabine.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Old French raviner (“to rush with force, flow violently”), a verb attested from about 1215 and obsolete by the 18th century.[4][2][5] That verb was formed from the Old French noun ravine (“violence, impetuosity, robbery”), which goes back to Latin rapīna (“robbery, plunder”).[4][2][6] Bloch and Wartburg likewise see the old noun as the outcome of the Latin word, and the modern sense as remade on the verb.[7] Wiktionary allows either the verb or the old noun as the source.[1] The old adjective ravinous (“impetuous”), said especially of torrential water, may have helped the sense to shift.[7]

The old noun is the popular doublet of rapine, borrowed from the same Latin word.[2][1] Littré compares Occitan rabina.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, raveine de terre “avalanche, fall of earth” in the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century), is isolated.[4] Ravine d'eau “torrent of water, downpour” follows in a royal ordinance of 1388.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The Old French noun ravine meant chiefly an act of violence or robbery, then impetuosity or speed;[4][7] Littré quotes Benoît de Sainte-Maure's la rabine des chevaux, the rush of the horses.[3] From the force of rushing water came ravine d'eau, a torrent, used until the 17th century;[4][7] ravine alone had this sense from 1688 to 1700.[4][7]

The current sense, a bed hollowed out by a torrent or a small ravine, is dated to Agrippa d'Aubigné in 1616.[4][2] From it came a new verb raviner (1585), “to furrow the ground”, used figuratively of a face lined with deep wrinkles since the late 19th century.[2] In the French West Indies the word named small streams coming down from the mountains.[3] It passed into English as ravine in 1760 from French ravin and ravine.[8]

Timeline

  • 1100–1150 – Raveine de terre “avalanche” in the Cambridge Psalter, and the old noun in the sense “act of violence”.[4]
  • c. 1165 – The old noun means “impetuosity” in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.[4]
  • c. 1215 – The verb raviner “to flow with force” is recorded.[4][2]
  • 1388 – Ravine d'eau “torrent” in an ordinance of Charles VI.[4][7]
  • 1585 – A new verb raviner “to furrow the ground” is formed from it.[2]
  • 1616 – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses it for a small ravine.[4][2]
  • 1760 – English borrows ravine.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small ravin; the bed cut by a torrent or a stream: une ravine boisée.[4][9][10]
  2. (geology) The first stage of ravinement, a small gully cut by running water.[11][1]
  3. (dated) A torrent.[4][9]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 67a
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Ravine.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ravine. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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