Rived

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹaɪvd/

Definitions

1. To be forcibly split or torn into pieces, often by violent force
2. To undergo a sudden separation or cleavage usually caused by strain or impact
3. To break apart or be rent asunder through physical stress or pressure

Etymology: "Rived" is the past tense and past participle of "rive," and its history runs through the Vikings. Middle English borrowed "riven" from Old Norse "rífa," meaning "to rend, tear apart," so the word arrived in English from the North Germanic languages rather than from Latin or French. Its ancestor, Proto-Germanic "rīfanąn," meant "to tear, scratch," and that same root gave English the word "rift." The Old English family tree shows how the sense of "tearing" was once tied to other ideas. Old English "ārǣfan" meant "to let loose, unwrap," a sense that hints at pulling apart what was bound together. Old Norse "ript," which meant a breach or rupture, is also a relative, and it survives in modern Scandinavian languages in verbs for tearing, such as Danish "rive" and Swedish "riva."

Synonyms: split, cleave, rend, shatter, fracture

Antonyms: join, unite, merge, connect, assemble