rathe
Americanadjective
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Archaic. growing, blooming, or ripening early in the year or season.
adjective
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blossoming or ripening early in the season
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eager or prompt
Other Word Forms
- rathely adverb
- ratheness noun
Etymology
Origin of rathe
before 900; Middle English; Old English hræth, hræd quick, active; cognate with Dutch rad, Old Norse hrathr
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Crossley is, I believe, mistaken in his derivation of the word rathe from the Celtic raithe, signifying inclination, although rather seems indisputably to belong to it.
From Notes and Queries, Number 186, May 21, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George
For swinging there on a rathe rose-tree, By the scented bay and barberry, Its petals gave all their sweet to me, As I passed by.
From Sea Poems by Rice, Cale Young
In that he is precocious, and, like the rathe primrose, will "forsaken die."
From In a Green Shade A Country Commentary by Hewlett, Maurice Henry
Aye, aye, vull rathe the zun mus' rise To meäke us tired o' zunny skies, A-sheenèn on the whole day drough, From mornèn's dawn till evenèn's dew.
From Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect by Barnes, William
Then rathe was beroomed, as the rich one was bidding, For the guests a-foot going the floor all withinward.
From The Tale of Beowulf Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats by Anonymous
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.