Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Fierce, cruel, stern, zealous: said of persons.
  • Terrible; dreadful: said of things.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective (of persons) Fierce; cruel; savage; stern; zealous; ardent; keen.
  • adjective (of things) Terrible; dreadful; severe.
  • adverb Furiously; violently; wildly.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English rethe, from Old English rēþe ("fierce, cruel, savage, severe, stern, austere, zealous, wild, dire"), from Proto-Germanic *rōþijaz (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *rei-, *rēi- (“to scream, shout, roar, bellow, bark, growl”). Cognate with Scots reithe, reythe, reth ("rethe"), Old High German ruod ("a roar"), Middle High German rüeden ("to be noisy"), Bavarian rüeden ("to be noisy, roar, be in heat").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rethe.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.