English Explanatory Dictionary

ravine

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.
noun
  1. Alternative form of raven (“rapine, rapacity; prey, plunder”).

Pronunciation

rə-vēnʹ /ɹəˈviːn/ en-us-ravine.ogg /ˈɹævɪn/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ravine2.wav

Word forms

ravine ravines

Etymology

Borrowed from French ravin (“a gully”), from Old French raviner (“to pillage, sweep down, cascade”), from ravine (“robbery, rapine; violent rush of water, waterfall, avalanche; impetuosity, spirit”), from Latin rapīna (cf. rapine).

Related words

ravinement canyon gorge gulley gully valley

Derived words

ravine-buck ravined ravine deerravine salamander ravinelike ravinous raviny
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on R Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary