Etymology and origin of the Old Norse word ript
ript1 cloth, bridal veil
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- 1312 Snorra Edda fragment (as ripti)
- Inherited from
- Proto-Germanic *riftiz
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Germanic *riftiz
Forms
Etymology
The word for cloth is inherited from Proto-Germanic *riftiz (“piece of cloth”),[3][4] with Old English rift (“veil, curtain, cloak”) and Old High German beinrefta (“trousers”).[3][5][1] Orel derives it from Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (“to tear”);[3] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon likewise relates it to rífa (“to tear”) and rifa, the original sense being “a torn-off piece”.[6] Torp sets it beside rifr (“weaver's beam”).[7] Fritzner and Cleasby–Vigfússon compared Latin reptus, a shaggy cape that Isidore says was called by that name.[8][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
The word is used in Eddic poetry, as in Hávamál: rekkar þat þóttust, er þeir rift höfðu, neiss er nökkviðr halr “they thought themselves fine men when they had clothes; a naked man is put to shame”.[8][9] Its first dated record is the neuter ripti, in a fragment of Snorra Edda dated 1312, in a list of words for clothes.[10]
Semantic evolution
The word is poetic.[1] Neckel finds that in the Edda it always means linen: a bride's headdress, a bed-sheet, swaddling clothes and a woman's dress.[11] In Rígsmál the bride sits und ripti, under the veil, and women mangle and wrap linen.[2] In Snorra Edda Nanna sends Frigg a ripti among other gifts: en Naɴa sendi Friɢ ripti ok eɴ fleiri giafar “and Nanna sent Frigg a linen cloth and more gifts besides”.[10] Skaldic vinda ript “cloth of the winds” is a kenning for a sail.[9][12] The word lives on as Icelandic rift “piece of cloth” and Norwegian dialect Norwegian Nynorsk rift “width of a woven cloth; a long white linen cloth worn at funerals”.[6][1]
Timeline
- 1312 – ripti in a list of words for clothes in a fragment of Snorra Edda.[10]
- 1325 – ripti, Nanna's gift to Frigg, in Snorra Edda.[10]
Meanings
Noun
Word family
- ripti
- lérept
- valaript
Descendants
ript2 annulment of a bargain
- Confidence
- Disputed
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1265 Grágás, Staðarhólsbók
- Ultimate origin
- Old Norse ripta
Forms
ript f (also written rift)[14][4]
Etymology
The word for the annulment goes with the verb from Old Norse ripta (“to annul”), to which de Vries and Köbler refer it.[1][4] De Vries derives the verb from Proto-Germanic *rifatjan, a formation to rifa.[1] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon reverses the order: he doubts that form and takes the verb as formed from the noun, which belongs with rífa (“to tear”), though the formation is not fully clear.[15] Cleasby and Vigfússon related it to rjúfa (“to break”) or the same verb.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
ONP's one citation is the Staðarhólsbók text of Grágás, dated 1265, on a buyer's right to undo a land purchase: ella er fast kaupet ... oc of segrat hann ósött sina fyʀ á caupet en hann á riftena “otherwise the purchase stands ... and if he has not declared his objection to the purchase before he is entitled to the annulment”.[14][8]
Semantic evolution
The noun is a legal term of the Icelandic law of purchase, beside the commoner verb, which ONP has from 1250, often in the phrase rifta kaup “to annul a bargain”.[16] In skaldic verse Finnur Jónsson reads a ript “breach, breach of peace” in a stanza of Sigvatr, though he thinks the passage unclear and perhaps to be read as the verb.[9] Modern Icelandic has rift, rifting and riftun “annulment, breach of contract”.[15]
Timeline
- 1250 – the verb ripta in the Konungsbók text of Grágás.[16]
- 1265 – riftena “the annulment” in the Staðarhólsbók text of Grágás.[14]
Meanings
Noun
- (law) annulment, rescission of a bargain.[14][2][8]
- (poetic) a breach of peace or of an agreement (one uncertain reading).[9]
Word family
- ripting
Descendants
- Icelandic rift[15]
Related words
- rífa
- rifa
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 447
- ^ a b c d e f g Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 498
- ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 304
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. ript
- ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 260
- ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. rift
- ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 345
- ^ a b c d e Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. ript
- ^ a b c d e Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 467
- ^ a b c d Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. ripti
- ^ Neckel, Gustav (1927), Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius, vol. 2: Kommentierendes Glossar, Heidelberg, p. 138
- ^ Meissner, Rudolf (1921), Die Kenningar der Skalden, Bonn & Leipzig, p. 222
- ^ Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. ript
- ^ a b c d Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. ript
- ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. rifta
- ^ a b Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. ripta
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Ript.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/non/ript. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.
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