Thursday, April 11, 2013

reave, reeve

Reave or reave ( sometimes spelled reive ) is an old-fashioned word meaning to take away by force; to rob or plunder--
Vikings would stop at medieval English villages and reave them of their valuables.
Reave means strong-arm robbery, in modern English.

Reeve or reeve ( rhymes with reave ) means an administrative officer of a local government, or the supervisor of a group of workers--
The sheriff of an American county would have been the reeve of a shire in England, long ago.
A Canadian town may have a council headed by a reeve.

Reeve also means to fasten by passing  a rope or line through a hole or ring, or by tying a rope around--
Reeve it to the pier by passing the rope through the hole in the block.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"In medieval times, someone caught attempting to reave a person or place  would be turned over to the reeve."

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