# raven

Pronunciation: say "RAY-vuhn" /ˈɹeɪvən/

## Noun

1. A large, glossy black bird of the genus Corvus, especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
   - Simple: A large, shiny black bird that looks like a big crow and has a thick beak.
   - _A raven landed on the fence post and called out across the field._
   - _Ravens are known for solving puzzles and using simple tools._
3. A lustrous jet-black color, like that of a raven's feathers.
   - Simple: A deep, shiny black, the color of a raven's feathers.

## Adjective

2. Glossy jet-black, like the plumage of a raven.
   - Simple: Deep, shiny black, like the feathers of a raven.
   - _The portrait captured her raven tresses against her pale skin._
   - _He brushed back a lock of raven hair before the performance._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "RAV-uhn" /ˈɹævən/

4. To prey on or devour something greedily and violently. *(literary)*
   - Simple: To hunt and eat something hungrily, or attack in a greedy, violent way.
5. To be greedy or rapacious, hungering after something. *(literary)*
   - Simple: To act greedy and keep wanting more and more of something.

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "RAV-uhn" /ˈɹævən/

6. To seize or obtain something by violence; to plunder. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To take or grab something by force, robbing or stealing it violently.

## Noun

7. Violent, greedy seizure of goods or prey, or what is seized in this way. *(archaic)* (pronounced: say "RAV-uhn" /ˈɹævən/)
   - Simple: Taking things by force out of greed, or the things taken.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3** — From Middle English "raven," from Old English "hræfn," from Proto-Germanic "*hrabnaz" (raven), probably imitating the bird's call in the end; one proposed Proto-Indo-European root is "*ḱer-," meaning "to croak or crow."
**Meanings 4–7** — From Middle English "ravine" or "raven," from Old French "ravine" (rapine, robbery), from Latin "rapīna" (plundering, loot), from "rapere" (to seize, plunder, abduct). The verb probably grew out of the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/raven (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).