river

A1 Topic:Nature & Landscape

US /ˈɹɪvɚ/ UK /ˈɹɪvə/ See IPA manual

Freq #1112

Meanings

1

noun
A large natural stream of water flowing across land toward the sea, a lake, or another river.

The river was navigable for fifty miles.
2

noun
A large flowing mass of any liquid.

A river of lava poured down the side of the volcano.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

anabrancharroyo bayou beckboganboguebournbranch brook brooklet burnburnlet

Word family

Forms riverineriversriverward

Derived forms cross-riverdownrivermidrivermultiriverpalaeoriverpaleoriverrayneriver-bushriver-dragonriverageriverbankriverbed

Related forms alluvium amphibianbaijibillabong bridge canyon channel confluence crest dam dock drought

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

river dolphin
a long-snouted dolphin that usually lives in freshwater rivers

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

River dates from Middle English and comes from the same root as rival.

Etymology

From Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Early Medieval Latin rīpāria (“littoral, riverbank”), from Latin rīpārius (“of a riverbank”), from Latin rīpa (“river bank”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to scratch, tear, cut”). Unrelated to Latin rīvus (“stream”) (whence rival, derive). Doublet of riviera and rivière. Displaced native Old English ēa.

ryver Middle English riviere xno rīpāria la-eme rīpārius Latin rīpa Latin *h₁reyp- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Nature & Landscape

External links

# river

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹɪvɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɪvə/
**Frequency rank:** 1112

## Meanings
1. A large natural stream of water flowing across land toward the sea, a lake, or another river.
2. A large flowing mass of any liquid.

## Examples
- The river was navigable for fifty miles.
- A river of lava poured down the side of the volcano.

## Synonyms
- anabranch
- arroyo
- bayou
- beck
- bogan
- bogue
- bourn
- branch
- brook
- brooklet
- burn
- burnlet

## Derived Forms
- cross-river
- downriver
- midriver
- multiriver
- palaeoriver
- paleoriver
- rayne
- river-bush
- river-dragon
- riverage
- riverbank
- riverbed

## Related Forms
- alluvium
- amphibian
- baiji
- billabong
- bridge
- canyon
- channel
- confluence
- crest
- dam
- dock
- drought

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ryver
- Root: riviere
- Root: rīpāria
- Root: rīpārius
- Root: rīpa
- Root: *h₁reyp-

## Etymology
From Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Early Medieval Latin rīpāria (“littoral, riverbank”), from Latin rīpārius (“of a riverbank”), from Latin rīpa (“river bank”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to scratch, tear, cut”). Unrelated to Latin rīvus (“stream”) (whence rival, derive). Doublet of riviera and rivière. Displaced native Old English ēa.

## AI Etymology
River comes from Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Early Medieval Latin rīpāria (“littoral, riverbank”), from Latin rīpārius (“of a riverbank”), from Latin rīpa (“river bank”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to scratch, tear, cut”). Unrelated to Latin rīvus (“stream”) (whence rival, derive). Doublet of riviera and rivière. Displaced native Old English ēa. Modern senses include a large natural stream of water flowing across land toward the sea, a lake, or another river. and a large flowing mass of any liquid.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as cross-river, downriver, midriver, multiriver, palaeoriver, and paleoriver and related forms such as alluvium, amphibian, baiji, and billabong.

## Topics
- Nature & Landscape

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