Ravine

How to spell ravine

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ravine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ravine mean?

1. nounA deep, narrow valley with steep sides, typically cut by running water.

Ravine in a sentence

• The hikers paused at the edge of a steep ravine before turning back.

• Heavy rain had carved a ravine into the soft hillside over the years.

Where does ravine come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from French ravine, which once meant a violent rush of water before it settled on the deep, narrow valley such water carves out. The French term traces back to the Latin rapina, meaning 'plunder' or 'a carrying off', which in turn grew from the verb rapere, 'to seize or snatch away'. The idea linking these senses is force: a torrent that seizes the land and tears a channel through it. English adopted ravine in this geographical sense in the late 1700s, gradually replacing an older borrowing of the same French word that had meant a sudden flood. That shared rapere root is why ravine keeps such surprising company, sitting alongside 'ravenous', 'rapine', and even 'ravage', all of which carry the notion of seizing or devouring. Remembering that the gully was gouged out by rushing water can help fix the single 'v' and the silent final 'e'.

How the word is built

• ravin- (from Latin rapina: a rushing, a carrying off)
• -e