How do you pronounce rethe?

The recorded pronunciation is /riːð/.

Where does rethe come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

rethe

/riːð/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: rethe
IPA: /riːð/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

(of persons) Fierce; cruel; savage; stern; zealous; ardent; keen.

adj

(of things) Terrible; dreadful; severe.

adv

Furiously; violently; wildly.

Etymology

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”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: reth, rēþe, *rōþī, *rōþijaz, *rey-

Inflected Forms

rether (comparative) more rethe (comparative) rethest (superlative) most rethe (superlative) reth (alternative, Scotland) reithe (alternative, Scotland) retht (alternative, Scotland)

Derived Forms

retheness

Homonyms

wreathe (th-fronting) reeve reave

Rhymes With

breathe underneath wreath sheath meath bequeath pontypridd seethe sheathe beath unsheathe wreathe