different between ravine vs gulf

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French ravin (“a gully”), from Old French raviner (“to pillage, sweep down, cascade”), from ravine (“robbery, rapine; violent rush of water, waterfall, avalanche; impetuosity, spirit”), from Latin rap?na (cf. rapine).

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?-v?n?, IPA^(key): /???vi?n/
• Rhymes: -i?n

Noun

ravine (plural ravines)

1. A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.

Derived terms

• ravine-buck
• ravined
• ravine-deer

Related terms

• ravinement

Translations

See also

• canyon
• gorge
• gulley, gully
• valley

Etymology 2

From Middle English ravene, ravine, from Old French raviner (“rush, seize by force”), itself from ravine (“rapine”), from Latin rap?na (“plundering, loot”), itself from rapere (“seize, plunder, abduct”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??æv?n/

Noun

ravine (plural ravines)

1. (archaic) Alternative form of raven (“rapine, rapacity; prey, plunder”)
   • 1849, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H.:

     And he, shall he,
     Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair, […]
     Who trusted God was love indeed
     And love Creation’s final law—
     Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
     With ravine, shriek’d against his creed—
     Who loved, who suffer’d countless ills,
     Who battled for the True, the Just,
     Be blown about the desert dust,
     Or seal’d within the iron hills?

Further reading

• ravine on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• ravines on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• ravine at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Averni, Erivan, naiver, naïver, vainer

French

Etymology

From the Old French verb raviner (“flow with force; sweep down; pillage, cascade”), or from the noun ravine, raveine (“robbery, rapine; violent rush of water, waterfall, avalanche; impetuosity, spirit”), from Latin rap?na. Doublet of rapine, a borrowing from the same Latin term.

Pronunciation

• Homophones: ravinent, ravines

Noun

ravine f (plural ravines)

1. A small ravine or gully.
2. Beginning of a furrowing or formation of a ravine.

Related terms

• ravin
• raviner
• ravinement

Verb

ravine

1. first-person singular present indicative of raviner
2. third-person singular present indicative of raviner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of raviner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of raviner
5. second-person singular imperative of raviner

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French ravine, from Latin rap?na.

Noun

ravine m (definite singular ravinen, indefinite plural raviner, definite plural ravinene)

1. gully (type of ravine)

References

• “ravine” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “ravine” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French ravine, from Latin rap?na.

Noun

ravine m (definite singular ravinen, indefinite plural ravinar, definite plural ravinane)

1. gully (type of ravine)

References

• “ravine” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Alternative forms

• gulph (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English gulf, goulf, golf, from Old French golf, from Italian golfo, from Late Latin colfos, from Ancient Greek ?????? (kólpos, “bosom, gulf”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: g?lf, IPA^(key): /??lf/
• Rhymes: -?lf
• Homophone: golf (some speakers)

Noun

gulf (plural gulfs)

1. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
2. (obsolete) That which swallows; the gullet.
   • 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, IV. i. 23:

     Witch's mummy, maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt sea shark,

3. That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
4. (geography) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea

5. (mining) A large deposit of ore in a lode.
6. (figuratively) A wide interval or gap; a separating space.

   • Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.
7. (figuratively) A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.
8. (Oxbridge slang) The bottom part of a list of those awarded a degree, for those who have only just passed.

Derived terms

Synonyms

• (difference): abyss

Translations

Verb

gulf (third-person singular simple present gulfs, present participle gulfing, simple past and past participle gulfed)

1. (Oxbridge slang, transitive) To award a degree to somebody who has only just passed sufficiently.