*raubōną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *raubōną in Wiktionary,^[1] *raubōn in Köbler^[2] and *rauƀōjanan in Orel.^[3] Kroonen has no article on the verb; he derives the noun *rauba- "loot" from the strong verb *reufan- "to break".^[4]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to snatch”);^[1] Köbler writes the root *reup- "to tear, to break".^[2]

Morphology

A weak verb of the second class,^[5][6] formed from a noun: from *raubaz "robbery" with *-ōną in Wiktionary,^[1] from *rauƀō and *rauƀaz in Orel.^[3] EWA also calls it a denominal formation,^[5] and Feist derived it from a feminine noun *rauba.^[7]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌱𐍉𐌽 (biraubon), Old Norse raufa, and Old English rēafian, Old Frisian rāvia, Old Saxon rōƀon and Old High German roubōn in West Germanic.^[3] Gothic has only the compound, and only in the preterite.^[8] EWA notes that the Old Norse verb meant "to break a hole", and that its sense "to rob" was taken from Middle Low German.^[5] The verb was borrowed as Late Latin raubō,^[1] and Feist points out that the noun *rauba passed into Romance, as Italian roba and French robe, "booty, goods, garment".^[7]

Competing analyses

For the root, Kroonen compares Latin rumpō (“to burst, to break open”) and a Sanskrit verb "to tear, to break, to plunder", from *Hru-m-p-e-.^[9] Orel instead relates the noun to the Lithuanian verb for "to dig" and to Proto-Slavic *rupa (“pit”).^[10]

Meanings

1. to rob, to steal, to plunder^[1][2]
2. to tear away^[2]

Old English also used it for "to strip" and "to clothe",^[6] and Old Frisian for "to distrain".^[11]

Derivatives

• *biraubōną "to bereave, to spoil, to take away", with *bi-.^[12]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌱𐍉𐌽 (biraubon, “to rob”), only with the prefix^[7][8]
• Old Norse: raufa (“to break a hole”)^[13]
• Old English: rēafian (“to rob, to plunder, to snatch, to lay waste”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: rāvia (“to rob, to distrain, to bereave”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: rōƀon (“to rob”)^[14]
• Old High German: roubōn (“to rob, to plunder, to violate”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *raubōną
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *raubōn
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *rauƀōjanan
4. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 406
5. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. roubôn
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. réafian
7. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. bi-raubōn
8. ^ a b Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. *bi-raubon
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 410
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *rauƀō
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. rāvia
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *biraubōną
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. raufa
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rôvon