Etymology
Two, perhaps etymologically distinct, words could play a part in the history of this word: (1) the ON word represented by OIcel
rífr ‘munificent, abundant’ (cp. MLG
rive ‘strong, copious, generous, extravagant’, MDu
rive,
rijf ‘generous, liberal, abundant, copious, busy’, WFris
rjū ‘many, much’, OS (n., dp)
girīvon ‘of benefit, advantage’). It first apparently occurs late OE as
rīfe (<ryfe>) in 12c. prognostic text. It has been traditional (e.g. Falk-Torp 344–5, Pokorny 858, de Vries, Mag., Orel,
OED3) to connect this adj. with the pres. stem of the PGmc v.
*rīfan- ‘to tear’, as in OIcel
rífa (see
ryue (v.)), supposing a semantic development from ‘tearing off’ to ‘distribution’ and hence ‘generosity’; and this group of words is sometimes also linked by Ablaut to OIcel
reifr ‘glad, cheerful’ (e.g. Falk-Torp, Pokorny, de Vries), but Heid. suggests instead PGmc
rīfan- <
*reiba- with an original sense
'satisfactory'. (2) Although ME
ryue is most likely formally derived from ON, there may have been some input from OE <(h)rif> words, which would have been formally indistinguishable from a loan of ON
rífr (as in (1)). Such OE forms with initial <r-> have also been commonly, and perhaps mistakenly, attributed to a PGmc
*rīfan. BTS suggest instead an OE word ?
hrīfe 'rapacious, fierce', represented by both <hrif-> and <rif-> spellings (see further Dance, Dance 2002: 12-15).
PGmc Ancestor
(1) *rīf- or *reiba-; (2) *xrīƀ-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
(1) rífr ‘munificent, abundant’
(ONP (1) rífr (adj.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(1) Far ríviligur, Icel rífur, Norw rîv, Sw dial riv
OE Cognate
(2) ?hrīfe 'rapacious, fierce'
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
D1