bereave
/bɪˈɹiv/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English bireven, from Old English berēafian (“to bereave, deprive of, take away, seize, rob, despoil”), from Proto-Germanic *biraubōną, and Old English berēofan (“to bereave, deprive, rob of”); both equivalent to be- + reave. Cognate with Dutch beroven (“to rob, deprive, bereave”), German berauben (“to deprive, rob, bereave”), Danish berøve (“to deprive of”), Norwegian berøve (“to deprive”), Swedish beröva (“to rob”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌱𐍉𐌽 (biraubōn).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *Hrewp-, bireven, berēafian, *biraubōną, berēofan
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɪˈɹiv/
- British English: /bɪˈɹiːv/