# [OT] What the hell does "reaver" mean ?



## Gez (May 16, 2002)

Yeah, what's up with this word ? There's the console game "Soul Reaver", there's a "Reaver" prestige class in Seas of Blood, there's a "Slime Reaver" bullywug-like monster in Creature Collection 2...

According to all the English dictionaries I've consulted, be they for translation or for definition, be they paper or found on the Internet, there's no words between "reassuringly" and "reawaken". When I've asked an English teacher (who's a native englishwoman from the UK); she said she never saw that word and asked me if I didn't confused it with "reefer"  ...

What does this silly word mean ?


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## BlueMonsterKu (May 16, 2002)

I believe a reaver is an object that harvests in a violent way.  I realy dull scythe for example could be a Reaver of Wheat.  Cause you'd realy have to whack at the stalks with it.


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## Nightfall (May 16, 2002)

Dictionary.com says a Reaver is one who reaves.

Reave itself means as follows:

To seize and carry off forcibly. 
To deprive (one) of something; bereave. 
To plunge, pillage or rob.


That help Gez?  Btw, that's why they call people that plunder a Reaver. It's an archaic word, thus not often heard of in modern English.


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## Gez (May 16, 2002)

OK. Then the slime reaver are depriving other people of slime ?  They're really evil


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## Nightfall (May 16, 2002)

I think slime in this case refers to them being SLIMY not about them depriving others of Slime, Gez.


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## Henry (May 16, 2002)

In the case of "Slime Reaver," it is possible that the person who thought up this name assumed that "Reaver" was synonymous with "Cleaver", which I used to. If a "reaver" was something that cut an item or thing in two, then a case could be made.

Under that assumption, "Soul Reaver" would work as either one who stole souls, or one who destroyed souls. "Slime Reaver", however, sounds rather silly.


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## omokage (May 16, 2002)

BlueMonsterKu said:
			
		

> *I believe a reaver is an object that harvests in a violent way.  I realy dull scythe for example could be a Reaver of Wheat.  Cause you'd realy have to whack at the stalks with it. *




Harvesting is reaping, not reaving. To say that a scythe is a reaver is not accurate at all. It would be more accurate to call it a reaper.

to reave is to take something forcibly. A reaver is a theif. Nightfall does well with the dictionary.com defintions.
I think that because reaver is not a common word, people confuse it with other words. Yes Slime Reaver is a silly concept when considering the meaning of the word reaver.


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## Grifter86 (May 16, 2002)

*Reaver*

I believe when reaver is used in the cases of Slime Reaver or Soul Reaver it is almost a synonym for "bandit."

Historically, Reavers was the nickname of the barbaric Scottish based raiders that swept in, killed men, women and children in outlying villages, and pillaged thoroughly.

Of course, I may have a detail or several wrong.


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## Buttercup (May 16, 2002)

Here's a bit more info.  Reave is from Middle English _reven_, meaning 'to plunder', which is from Old English, _reafian_.  It is related to the Old Norse word _rifa_ which means 'to rend, tear apart, break into pieces'.

My source is *The American Heritage Dictionary*, 4th ed.


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## hnoor0022 (Apr 27, 2016)

It is related to the Old Norse word rifa which means 'to rend, tear apart, break into pieces....


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## CapnZapp (Apr 27, 2016)

In contemporary Swedish today, "riva" means tear something (down or apart). You tear a paper. You tear down a building.

Reaver in this context would be someone tearing your village or society apart.

Also, "rövare" is a word for bandit, but that I think is more related to "rov" or plunder. They would steal your gold and your women, etc.


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## delericho (Apr 27, 2016)

Gez said:


> What does this silly word mean ?




It basically means the same as "raider".

Except in Firefly, in which is means "bad things are coming".


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## Umbran (Apr 27, 2016)

Henry said:


> Under that assumption, "Soul Reaver" would work as either one who stole souls, or one who destroyed souls. "Slime Reaver", however, sounds rather silly.




Yes, but then baby food is not made from real babies.

Context matters, people.  Sheesh.


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## Anselyn (Apr 27, 2016)

delericho said:


> It basically means the same as "raider".
> 
> Except in Firefly, in which is means "bad things are coming".




I think it's corrupted from "Reiver".

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Reivers


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## Umbran (Apr 27, 2016)

Anselyn said:


> I think it's corrupted from "Reiver".




At that point, it isn't "corruption" - that term comes from a time before standardized spelling.


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## Anselyn (Apr 27, 2016)

Umbran said:


> At that point, it isn't "corruption" - that term comes from a time before standardized spelling.




Yes, variant spelling would be a better phrasing.

"standardized spelling" You mean when Noah Webster normalized incorrectness?


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## Jeremy E Grenemyer (Apr 28, 2016)

Gez said:


> What does this silly word mean ?



I ran into the same dilemma a couple weeks ago (while working on adventuring company names) and I was not happy with the information I found online. 

Count me as happy that you asked this question.


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## CapnZapp (Apr 28, 2016)

sanishiver said:


> I was not happy with the information I found online.



You are not the first poster saying this.

May I ask how and where you did your search?

Asking because from my viewpoint it is trivial to find word information. Aside from the dictionaries mentioned, there's always wiktionary; Wikipedia for words.

(The wiki entry on Reaver succinctly presents all of the information in this thread)

I'm not asking to lecture you or gloat. I'm genuinely concerned - it seems the free and easy availability of Wiki resources aren't as common knowledge as they ought to be.


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## Radaceus (Apr 28, 2016)

I have never considered that this word was anything other than an Anglicization of the Scottish word _reivers_, one who _reives_. Historically, the Border Reivers


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## FickleGM (Apr 28, 2016)

[MENTION=6851459]hnoor0022[/MENTION] might be a reaver, for they have reaved this thread from its almost 14-year slumber.


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## Umbran (Apr 28, 2016)

It wasn't slumbering.  It was waiting to pounce.


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## Jeremy E Grenemyer (Apr 28, 2016)

CapnZapp said:


> May I ask how and where you did your search?



Sure. 

All searches were performed on Google. First was "reaver". Second was "define: reaver".

In both cases I got general references to sci-fi titles, plenty of links to Firefly , and a link to a How-To for breaking a router password with Reaver Utilities.

For the first search Wikipedia was the top result. But I skipped it because I was looking for a word definition.

For the second search I did not get a Google definition. It's my assumption that google definitions for words are sourced from Wiktionary, so I didn't perform a search on that website. I did get a dictionary.com link (which I avoid because the adds freeze this old laptop, and the entries tend to be pretty short).

I was signed in to my Google account at the time. Not sure if that skewed my search results. 



CapnZapp said:


> I'm not asking to lecture you or gloat. I'm genuinely concerned - it seems the free and easy availability of Wiki resources aren't as common knowledge as they ought to be.



Oh I'm aware of Wikipedia and Wiktionary. The later has not always produced results--or useful definitions--for me in the past. 

I'd have tried my dictionaries after a quick online search, but they are all in storage.


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## SkidAce (Apr 29, 2016)

its subtle, but i get better results searching "definition word" than define etc...


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## Shasarak (Apr 29, 2016)

Umbran said:


> Yes, but then baby food is not made from real babies.




Luckily, that is not the case with baby oil!


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## ShadowBlackHeart (Nov 8, 2020)

Acording to urban dictionary it means "
Soul-Reaver
1.) A creature devoid of morality, common sense, and intelligence.
2.) The representation of everything wrong with the universe.
Soul-Reaver, you're being Soul-Reaver again. F*&^%NG STOP IT!"


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## ShadowBlackHeart (Nov 8, 2020)

ShadowBlackHeart said:


> Acording to urban dictionary it means "
> Soul-Reaver
> 1.) A creature devoid of morality, common sense, and intelligence.
> 2.) The representation of everything wrong with the universe.
> Soul-Reaver, you're being Soul-Reaver again. F*&^%NG STOP IT!"



sorry 4 the double post dident think first went through as i had no account at the time of trying to reply my bad


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## Bohandas (Nov 11, 2020)

Gez said:


> Yeah, what's up with this word ? There's the console game "Soul Reaver", there's a "Reaver" prestige class in Seas of Blood, there's a "Slime Reaver" bullywug-like monster in Creature Collection 2...
> 
> According to all the English dictionaries I've consulted, be they for translation or for definition, be they paper or found on the Internet, there's no words between "reassuringly" and "reawaken". When I've asked an English teacher (who's a native englishwoman from the UK); she said she never saw that word and asked me if I didn't confused it with "reefer"  ...
> 
> What does this silly word mean ?




According to wiktionary it's a fancy old-timey word for "thief", "plunderer", or "pirate"


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## MNblockhead (Nov 11, 2020)

The below definition is from the Oxford English Dictionary, UK version. 

CITE: reave. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Log in to your Oxford Dictionaries account (accessed November 11, 2020).


I didn't discern any difference in the definitions in the US version, so I'm just including the UK version as they seem to be same.

Definition of _reave_ in English:​
reave​Pronunciation: /riːv/
VERB (past and past participle reft / /rɛft//)​_[NO OBJECT]_ _archaic_
1Carry out raids in order to plunder:_the strong could reave and steal_

To slink thro' slaps, an' reave an' steal, At stacks o' pease, or stocks o' kail!
As their gods were, so their laws were; Thor the strong could reave and steal.
1.1_[WITH OBJECT]_Rob (a person or place) of something by force:_reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast_

In silencing my power, I am reft of half my being!
1.2_[WITH OBJECT]_Steal (something).

Were you planning to escort me to my chambers, or have all your chivalrous faculties been reft from you?
Helen, symbolizing perfect beauty as produced by Greek art, is recalled from Hades and ardently pursued by Faust, but finally reft from him.
‘What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee,’ said Pound.
Go reave me some loots.
Derivatives​reaver​NOUN

Not in our lands; these are claimed for one and one only, not reavers such as thee!
What shall a young reaver do but spend his coins like the snake sips water?
The great-handed reaver felt a hot scar tear across his cheeks and the bitter salt-welling of blood whet his lips and nostrils.
As a mercenary and reaver he should not have any qualms as the gold trickled into his pockets, the gold of blood-letting.
Origin​Old English_rēafian_, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch _roven_, German _rauben_, also to rob. See also reive.
Words that rhyme with reave​achieve, believe, breve, cleave, conceive, deceive, eve, greave, grieve, heave, interleave, interweave, khedive, leave, misconceive, naive, Neve, peeve, perceive, receive, reive, relieve, reprieve, retrieve, sheave, sleeve, steeve, Steve, Tananarive, Tel Aviv, thieve, underachieve, upheave, weave, we've, Yves
For editors and proofreaders​Line breaks: reave


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## Dioltach (Nov 11, 2020)

See also "Border Reivers". (George MacDonald Fraser wrote several books about them.)


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## nevin (Nov 11, 2020)

The term Riever was applied to the Border Scotts clans.  They reaved thier neighbors  on both sides.  Killed stole thier livestock.  They werent much different than vikings, or saxons.  They just rolled in and took what they wanted and killied anyone who tried to stop them. 

Historically Rievers or Reavers were large organized armed bands who pillaged, raped and stole whatever they wanted.


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## aramis erak (Nov 13, 2020)

Gez said:


> Yeah, what's up with this word ? There's the console game "Soul Reaver", there's a "Reaver" prestige class in Seas of Blood, there's a "Slime Reaver" bullywug-like monster in Creature Collection 2...
> 
> According to all the English dictionaries I've consulted, be they for translation or for definition, be they paper or found on the Internet, there's no words between "reassuringly" and "reawaken". When I've asked an English teacher (who's a native englishwoman from the UK); she said she never saw that word and asked me if I didn't confused it with "reefer"  ...
> 
> What does this silly word mean ?



The term was applied to those Scots who reaved into England. Technically, I think it's a Scots word more than English. (I hold to the Scots is not a dialect of English, but a very closely related language, and Robert Burns was it's greatest asset for showing it as a language, instead of a dialect.)

Note that the Scots spelling is reivers...








						Border reivers - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				











						The History of the Border Reivers
					

The story of the Reivers dates from the 14th century and continued into the late 17th century. It concerns the border between England and Scotland, a frontier lacking law and order.




					www.historic-uk.com
				











						The Border Reivers
					

Border Reiver families: Armstrong, Carr, Charlton, Elliot, Fenwick, Forster, Gray, Hall, Heron, Milburn, Ridley, Robson, Routledge, Scott, Shaftoe, Storey



					englandsnortheast.co.uk
				




The modern US spelling is reaver, but it's the same meaning: one who steals from the neighbors for a living, especially if the neighbors are across a border.


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## Raduin711 (Nov 13, 2020)

The local community college has the Reiver as their mascot. According to them, a reiver is a river pirate.

Iowa Western Community College


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## amethal (Nov 13, 2020)

Grifter86 said:


> Historically, Reavers was the nickname of the barbaric Scottish based raiders that swept in, killed men, women and children in outlying villages, and pillaged thoroughly.



I seriously doubt it was just the Scottish doing it, and Wikipedia seems to back me up. Seems like both the Scottish and English reivers weren't too picky about the nationality of their victims.


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## Benjamin Olson (Nov 13, 2020)

I have the unabridged 2nd edition Oxford English Dictionary on my computer (you know, that ridiculous 20 volume dictionary that gets a whole bookcase at the library reference section). It does have an actual full entry for the derivative noun "reaver" rather than just a note under the verb "reave". To wit:

reaver, reiver

(ˈriːvə(r)) 

Forms: α. 1 réafere, (hréaf-, réof-), 2–3 ræuere, (3 -are), 2–4 reuere, 4–5 reuour, 4–6 reu-, rever, 5–6 Sc. reu-, revar(e, 6–7 reauer, 6– reaver. Also 4 refar, 5 Sc. reffayr. β. 4 reyuour, 6 reyvar. γ. Sc. 5–6 reiffar, 6 reifar, 7 reivar, 6, 9 reiver, 9 riever. 

[OE. réafere, agent-n. f. réafian to reave v.1 = OFris. râvere, MDu. rover (Du. roover), MLG. rôver, OHG. roubari (MHG. roubære, rouber, G. räuber, †rauber). MSw. rövare (Sw. röfvare), MDa. rövere (Da. röver), and Icel. raufari (13th c.), reyfari (c 1400) are from MLG. rôver: see note to reave v.1, and cf. Eng. rover. 
   In mod. use the normal Eng. spelling reaver is less usual than the Sc. reiver (or riever), brought into literary use by Scott.] 

1.1 A robber or plunderer; a marauder, raider. Occas. with of. Also transf. or fig. 

α    c 888 K. Ælfred Boeth. xxxvii. §4 ᴁif þu on hwilcum men onᴁitst þæt he bið ᴁitsere & reafere.    c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xxii. 52 Suæ to hreafere [Rushw. reofere] ᴁie cuomon mið suordum.    c 1000 Ælfric Hom. II. 330 Sceaðan & reaferas, oððe reðe manslaᴁan.    c 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137 Al þe tunscipe fluᴁæn for heom, wenden ðæt hi wæron ræueres.    c 1230 Hali Meid. 29 Þeoues hit stelen ham, reaueres hit robbeð.    a 1300 Cursor M. 2205 Þer wit was he [Nimrod]‥Reuer and man-queller gret.    c 1400 Apol. Loll. 77 Clerkis now are fals witnes aȝen þer lawis, & þefis, & refars, & fals intrewsars.    c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxix. 386 (Add. MS.) The prophete seith, wo shall be Robbers and revers of pore mennes goodes.    1559 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xlii, [Sleep] Reuer of sight, and yet in whom we see Thinges oft that tide.    1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. i. 6 b, The reauers and robbers of all churches and images.    1615 Jackson Creed iv. viii. §2 [Bodies politic] the one hath reavers the other only plain thieves.    1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. 284 Reavers should not be Ruers.    1846 Sir W. Hamilton Diss. in Reid's Wks. 890 note, This paper is remarkable for the sagacity which tracks the footsteps of the literary reaver.

β    c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1798 For þov mayntenest þef reyuours,‥To gon aboute & robby ous.    1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxiii, There is nother Englyshe, nor French, nor robbers, nor reyvars, yt dothe them any hurte.

γ    1479 Barbour's Bruce xiv. 441 (Edin. MS.) The fyscher‥said, ‘Reiffar, thow mon her out’.    1553 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 148 The said Capitane of Norame reiffar of the said fyscheing.    a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 66 To theif and reiver he was ane sicker targe.    a 1615 Brieue Cron. Erlis Ross (1850) 11 Scap⁓thriftis, alias reivars and sorneris.    1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iv. ii, Carried by some reiver's hand, Far frae his wishes.    1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. xi, Harry was none of your bold-speaking, ranting reivers.    1880 McCarthy Own Times III. xxxii. 62 The chiefs of Oudh were reivers and bandits; the king was the head reiver and bandit.

attrib.    1864 J. C. Atkinson Stanton Grange 292 A gun might warn the reiver crow to be less audacious.

†2.2 A pirate, sea-robber (cf. sea-reaver). Obs. 

   c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxi. (Clement) 305 Þare come in þe sithtware Reueris sayland.    1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 164 The commodytes of Pety Brytayne, wyth here revers on the see.    c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 87 The best wer man in se is ws beforn,‥The Rede Reffayr thai call him.


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## nevin (Nov 13, 2020)

amethal said:


> I seriously doubt it was just the Scottish doing it, and Wikipedia seems to back me up. Seems like both the Scottish and English reivers weren't too picky about the nationality of their victims.



The reason you hear say scots is that the border riever clans were quite proud of thier rieving and did it for centuries.  In fact i read in a history book once that the border clans were intentionally placed on the border because of "thier wilde and lawless nature".

Vikings and others would meet the requirements for the term as well


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## nevin (Nov 13, 2020)

Heres a good post on the border riever clans and the church gives you a good idea of what they were like









						Border-Reivers-Religion-and-the-Lack-of-It
					

A blog about Border Reivers of the English Scottish Border from the 13th to 17th centuries. The Border Reivers were thieves, murderers, blackmailers.




					wwwborderreiverstories-neblessclem.blogspot.com


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## Sir Brennen (Nov 13, 2020)

This thread has been reaved from the archives. Twice!


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## Dioltach (Nov 13, 2020)

Sir Brennen said:


> This thread has been reaved from the archives. Twice!



Rereaved, so to speak.


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## Radaceus (Nov 18, 2020)

as opposed to bereaved?


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## Lackofname (Nov 18, 2020)

Now I want to see some slimy plunderers. PIRATE OOZES.


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## Yaztromo (Nov 19, 2020)




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## Yaztromo (Nov 19, 2020)




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## embee (Nov 19, 2020)

Gez said:


> Yeah, what's up with this word ? There's the console game "Soul Reaver", there's a "Reaver" prestige class in Seas of Blood, there's a "Slime Reaver" bullywug-like monster in Creature Collection 2...
> 
> According to all the English dictionaries I've consulted, be they for translation or for definition, be they paper or found on the Internet, there's no words between "reassuringly" and "reawaken". When I've asked an English teacher (who's a native englishwoman from the UK); she said she never saw that word and asked me if I didn't confused it with "reefer"  ...
> 
> What does this silly word mean ?




A reaver is a raider. Case in point: vikings.

Viking is Old Norse for "raider" or "reaver."  Basically, when you hear "reaver," just think of Vikings pillaging.


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## cbwjm (Nov 19, 2020)

Yaztromo said:


> View attachment 128708



Oh damn, the memories! I remember having that book and playing the adventures with my cousin.


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## Asisreo (Nov 20, 2020)

The biggest injustice in this thread is that FrogReaver isn't in it. 

Like, c'mon! If anyone can answer him, its you! (Even though he was already answered).


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