Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

raise

/ɹeɪz/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.75 in modern English

Syllables: raise
IPA: /ɹeɪz/

5

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

verb

To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"to raise your hand if you want to say something; to raise your walking stick to defend yourself"
"the flag was raised"
"With the completion of the preliminary work of raising bridges on the Mauldeth Road-Wilmslow line, to accommodate overhead electrical equipment, further work has been put in hand on bridges on the London Midland Region main line between Manchester and Crewe."
"Because of the heavy traffic, the 1960-61 Christmas guide to trains between King's Cross and the north stated: "To make travel conditions as comfortable as possible, passengers are requested to raise arm rests to enable four people to be seated on each side of those compartments which are fitted with arm rests.""
"to raise a wall, or a heap of stones"
"I will raise forts against thee."

Etymology

From Middle English reysen, raisen, reisen, from Old Norse reisa (“to raise”), from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, *raizijaną (“to raise”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *rīsaną (“to rise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to Kroonen (2013), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to stir, rise”). Cognate with Old English rāsian (“to explore, examine, research”), Old English rīsan (“to seize, carry off”), Old English rǣran (“to raise”). Doublet of rear.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: reysen, reisa, *raisijaną, *rīsaną, *h₁rey-, *h₃er-

Usage

Inflected Forms

raises (present, singular) raising (participle, present) raised (participle, past) raised (past) no-table-tags (table tags) glossary (inflection template) raised (first person, past) raisest (archaic, present) raised (past, second person) raisedst (archaic, past) raiseth (archaic, present) raised (past, singular)

Derived Forms

araise fundraise misraise outraise payraise raisable raiser upraise reraise

Phrases

check-raise curtain-raise hand-raise I'll see you and raise you it takes a village to raise a child raise a finger raise a finger against raise a flag

Synonyms

elevate empower uplift advance aggrandize dignify ennoble exalt honor nobilitate prefer promote

Homonyms

rase rays raze rehs réis res reyse

Rhymes With

days ways plays phase praise phrase pays stays essays displays rays surveys

Questions

How do you pronounce raise?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɹeɪz/.
What does raise mean?: To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
Where does raise come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce raise

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “raise”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɹeɪz/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “raise”.
Repeat and practice — Say “raise” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.