What does raven mean?

Definitions for raven
ˈræv ənraven

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word raven.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. raven, Corvus coraxverb

    large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail

  2. ravenverb

    obtain or seize by violence

  3. raven, prey, predateverb

    prey on or hunt for

    "These mammals predate certain eggs"

  4. devour, guttle, raven, pigverb

    eat greedily

    "he devoured three sandwiches"

  5. ravenverb

    feed greedily

    "The lions ravened the bodies"

Wiktionary

  1. Ravennoun

    for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s.

  2. Etymology: hræfn, from hrabnaz (compare raaf, Rabe, ravn), from ḱorh₂- (compare crú, corvus, šárka ‘magpie’, Serbo-Croatian ‘id.’, κόραξ), from (compare crepare ‘to creak, crack’, ‘he laments, implores’).

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. RAVENnoun

    A large black fowl.

    Etymology: hræfn , Saxon.

    The raven himself is hoarse
    That crokes the fatal entrance of Duncan
    Under my battlements. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    Come thou day in night,
    For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night,
    Whiter than snow upon a raven ’s back. William Shakespeare.

    I have seen a perfectly white raven, as to bill as well as feathers. Robert Boyle, on Colours.

    He made the greedy ravens to be Elias’ caterers, and bring him food. Charles I .

    On sev’ral parts a sev’ral praise bestows,
    The ruby lips, and well-proportion’d nose,
    The snowy skin, the raven glossy hair,
    The dimpled cheek. John Dryden, Cymon and Iphigenia.

    The raven once in snowy plumes was drest,
    White as the whitest dove’s unsully’d breast,
    His tongue, his prating tongue had chang’d him quite
    To sooty blackness from the purest white. Addison.

  2. To Ravenverb

    To devour with great eagerness and rapacity.

    Etymology: ræfian , Saxon, to rob.

    Thriftless ambition! that will raven up
    Thine own life’s means. William Shakespeare.

    Our natures do pursue,
    Like rats that raven down their proper bane,
    A thirsty evil; and when we drink we die. William Shakespeare.

    The cloyed will
    That satiate, yet unsatisfied desire, that tub
    Both fill’d and running, ravening first the lamb,
    Longs after for the garbage. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

    There is a conspiracy of the prophets, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. Ezek. xxii. 25.

  3. To Ravenverb

    To prey with rapacity.

    Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. Gen.

    The Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup; but their inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Luke xi.

    They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. Psalm xxii. 13.

    The more they fed, they raven’d still for more,
    They drain’d from Dan, and left Beersheba poor;
    But when some lay-preferment fell by chance,
    The Gourmands made it their inheritance. Dryden.

    Convulsions rack man’s nerves and cares his breast,
    His flying life is chas’d by rav’ning pains
    Through all his doubles in the winding veins. Richard Blackmore.

Wikipedia

  1. Raven

    The Raven is a 1975 song by the Alan Parsons Project from their album Tales of Mystery and Imagination, and first song of the band. The song is based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name; the song was written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, and was originally recorded in April 1975, at Mama Jo's Studio, North Hollywood, Los Angeles and Abbey Road Studios, London. It was one of the first rock songs to use a vocoder, developed by EMS, to distort vocals. It is also one of the few songs by the band featuring the vocals of Alan Parsons, who sings the first verse through the EMI vocoder. Actor Leonard Whiting performs the lead vocals for the remainder of the song, with Eric Woolfson and a choir as backing vocals. The single appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart peaking at #80 in October 1976. The 1987 reissued version of the song contains a guitar solo near the end, before the "Quoth the Raven"/"Nevermore, nevermore, nevermore, never!" refrains and a few licks between the lyrics.

ChatGPT

  1. raven

    A raven is a large, black bird that belongs to the crow family, known scientifically as the species Corvus corax. It is famous for its shiny, black plumage and distinctive croaking voice. Ravens are also known for their intelligence and adaptability, with a natural range that spans many parts of the world. They are often featured in mythology and folklore, where they are typically associated with mystery and magic.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Ravennoun

    a large black passerine bird (Corvus corax), similar to the crow, but larger. It is native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, and is noted for its sagacity

  2. Ravenadjective

    of the color of the raven; jet black; as, raven curls; raven darkness

  3. Ravennoun

    rapine; rapacity

  4. Ravennoun

    prey; plunder; food obtained by violence

  5. Ravenverb

    to obtain or seize by violence

  6. Ravenverb

    to devour with great eagerness

  7. Ravenverb

    to prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity

  8. Etymology: [Written also ravin, and ravine.]

Wikidata

  1. Raven

    The Raven is one of several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied. They have black plumage and large beaks. Species are: ⁕Corvus albicollis – White-necked Raven ⁕Corvus corax – Common Raven ⁕Corvus coronoides – Australian Raven ⁕Corvus crassirostris – Thick-billed Raven ⁕Corvus cryptoleucus – Chihuahuan Raven ⁕Corvus mellori – Little Raven ⁕Corvus rhipidurus – Fan-tailed Raven ⁕Corvus ruficollis – Brown-necked Raven ⁕Corvus tasmanicus – Forest Raven Extinct: ⁕†Corvus moriorum – Chatham Raven ⁕†Corvus antipodum – New Zealand Raven Smaller-bodied species in the genus Corvus include the crows, jackdaws, and the rook.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Raven

    rā′vn, n. a kind of crow, noted for its croak and glossy black plumage.—adj. black, like a raven.—adj. Rā′ven-col′oured (Shak.).—ns. Rā′ven's-duck, fine hempen sail-cloth; Rā′venstone, a gallows. [A.S. hræfn; Ice. hrafn, Dut. raaf.]

  2. Raven

    Ravin (B.), rav′n, v.t. to obtain by violence: to devour with great eagerness or voracity.—v.i. to prey rapaciously.—n. prey: plunder.—ns. Rav′ener, a plunderer; Rav′ening (B.), eagerness for plunder.—adjs. Rav′enous, Rav′ined, voracious: devouring with rapacity: eager for prey or gratification.—adv. Rav′enously.—n. Rav′enousness. [O. Fr. ravine, plunder—L. rapina, plunder.]

Suggested Resources

  1. raven

    The raven symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the raven symbol and its characteristic.

  2. raven

    Song lyrics by raven -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by raven on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. RAVEN

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Raven is ranked #9741 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Raven surname appeared 3,327 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Raven.

    69.6% or 2,316 total occurrences were White.
    21.6% or 720 total occurrences were Black.
    4.4% or 148 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2.1% or 73 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    1.5% or 52 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.5% or 18 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of raven in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of raven in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of raven in a Sentence

  1. Jamal Lewis:

    George Gojkovich/Getty Images's a sad day to be a Raven I must say.

  2. Gwen Berry:

    Raven has been through hell and back, i’m so happy to see her thrive and win. I’ll tell you a little secret, about two months ago she called me on the phone crying. She’s been through a lot. So I’m happy for her.

  3. Braden Coleman:

    I had my NVG’s on, my night vision goggles, and I had a Raven behind me following me out, making sure that I was, you know, safe, it was a bit tense, I’m not going to lie. But I guess you don’t really think of it at the time. You just ... do what you’re trained to do.

  4. Nick Longrich:

    The fossil record is incomplete enough that if you’re in a new area or a new time, there’s a fair chance that the dinosaurs there are going to be distinct, Steven Jasinski said. For instance, scientists might discover a toe from a brand new species, but such subtle differences may be unrecognizable or impossible to prove. [ T ] hings that we call separate species today would be very, very hard to tell apart based on their skeleton( crow versus raven, for example).

  5. Lucius Annaeus Seneca:

    He that visits the sick in hopes of a legacy, but is never so friendly in all other cases, I look upon him as being no better than a raven that watches a weak sheep only to peck out its eyes.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

raven#10000#10564#100000

Translations for raven

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    long and thin and often limp
    A lacerate
    B repugnant
    C lank
    D dicotyledonous

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