Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
adj
(of persons) Fierce; cruel; savage; stern; zealous; ardent; keen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Now chiefly dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
(of things) Terrible; dreadful; severe.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Now chiefly dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Furiously; violently; wildly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Now chiefly dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Middle English reth, rethe, from Old English rēþe (“fierce, cruel, savage, severe, stern, austere, zealous, wild, dire”), from Proto-West Germanic *rōþī, from Proto-Germanic *rōþijaz (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- (“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”).
