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reeve

Pronunciation: /ɹiːv/

The English word “reeve” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Any of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.
  2. The president of a township or municipal district council.
  3. The holder of a proposed but unadopted commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force, equivalent to wing commander.
  4. A female of the species Philomachus pugnax, a highly gregarious, medium-sized wading bird of Eurasia; the male is a ruff.

verb

  1. To pass (a rope) through a hole or opening, especially so as to fasten it.

Etymology

From Middle English reve, from Old English rēfa, an aphetism of ġerēfa (also grœ̄fa), from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō (“officer, official”). Compare Danish greve, Swedish greve, Dutch graaf, German Graf. The role, and eventually the word, was mostly replaced by bailiff, of Anglo-Norman origin.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.