Etymology: Perhaps originally a transferred use as noun of reigh adj. (see sense 4 at that entry, and compare later ree adj.), the male being so called on account of its pugnacity; in later use, the bird name was transferred to the female, its etymological connection with the adjective having become obscure. Compare later reeve n.³, ruff n.⁶, and see discussion at these entries, and see further W. B. Lockwood in Trans. Philol. Soc. 1975 (1977) 181–3 for a discussion of all three words.With the probable semantic motivation compare the scientific Latin specific name pugnax , as well as vernacular names in many other European languages, e.g. French combattant , Italian combattente , lit. ‘fighter’, Dutch kemphaan , German (now regional) Kampfhahn , Brausehahn , Streithahn , Swedish brushane , Danish brushane , all lit. ‘fighting cock’, German Kampfläufer , lit. ‘animal which runs to a fight’. The isolated form rue (see quot. 1697) may be an error.

Etymology: Probably a variant of ea n., with r by metanalysis in Old English prepositional phrases with feminine definite article, e.g. æt þǣre ēa , in þǣre ēa , ofer þǣre ēa , on þǣre ēa , tō þǣre ēa , all of which are attested in charters. Compare e.g.:OE Bounds (Sawyer 1185) in J. M. Kemble Codex Diplomaticus (1846) IV. 287 Swa mid stream in ðære ea Nen.Rea or Ray is common as a river name in England from the end of the 12th cent. onwards (see quots. below), often replacing earlier river names; compare Rea Brook, Shropshire (1221; earlier Meole), River Rea, Shropshire and Worcestershire (1310; earlier Neen: compare quot. OE above), River Ray, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (1363; earlier Ight), etc. See further E. Ekwall Eng. River-names (1928) 336–7. Compare Ray Island, Essex (1376) and places with the name Rye in Kent, Sussex, and Worcestershire probably all showing a similar development < Old English æt þǣre ēge ‘at the low-lying land, at the island’ (see island n.).For uses in place names (and in surnames derived from them) compare:a1200 in E. Ekwall Eng. River-names (1928) 337 Terra de Aqua scil. la Ree.1279 in P. H. Reaney & R. M. Wilson Dict. Brit. Surnames (1976) 291 Ralph de la Reye.1285 in P. H. Reaney & R. M. Wilson Dict. Brit. Surnames (1976) 291 William atte Ree.1390 Inquisition Misc. (P.R.O.: C 145/245/19) Vnum doleum cum vino tercia parte defeciente super sabulonem voc. le Ree in parochia de Haddelegh uel Legh..inuentum fuit.1422 Will of Kyt (Somerset Ho.) Quodquid tenementum..abuttet erga le Hye Ree.1455 Deed in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 212 [From Mylnestrete to the water called] le Ree. Alternatively, the common noun in English could perhaps show a different origin from the river name. Perhaps compare Middle Dutch (Flanders) reye watercourse, canal, especially municipal canal (14th cent.; Dutch (chiefly regional: Flanders) rei , reie ) and its variant roye (1324; Dutch (chiefly regional: Flanders) rui , †ruye ), both first attested in names of brooks (in the late 13th cent. as the name of two brooks near Bruges and near Antwerp respectively), and shortly afterwards as common nouns. The Dutch word is a loan < Old French roie , raie , reie ray n.¹; the specific sense ‘watercourse, canal’ is apparently not attested in continental Old French (although compare Anglo-Norman roie channel (1285 or earlier)), and is relatively rare in modern French dialects; it may be influenced by classical Latin rigāre to water, irrigate (see rigate v.). See further Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at *rĭca. Compare also Middle Low German rīe , rīge , rīje watercourse, canal (perhaps < Dutch). In form rhe perhaps influenced by association with ancient Greek ῤεῖν to flow (see rheid n. and adj.).

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps related to reid n. (compare also raid n.), although the semantic development is difficult to explain. This etymology assumes that the β. forms are primary (although these are first attested slightly later), with the α. forms showing loss of the final consonant; the γ. forms probably show reverse spellings (compare e.g. β. forms at rack n.², β. forms at rack n.³, etc.). Compare reeve n.⁴

Etymology: < ree v.¹ Sc. National Dict. (at Ree n.⁴) records the word as still in use in Stirlingshire and Midlothian in 1967.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps a Scots reflex, with specific semantic development, of reigh adj. (compare forms at that entry), although that word is apparently not attested after the late 13th cent., and is not found in Scots.

Etymology: Origin unknown. Compare reeing n., which perhaps implies earlier currency of the verb, although the possibility cannot be excluded that the verb was inferred from reeing n. as a back-formation; perhaps compare also renge n.² and range v.², range n.², ranger n.², ranging sieve n. Compare also later reeve v.² and English regional (south-western) rew , rue (first half of the 19th cent.; now rare), both in the same sense. It seems unlikely that the various groups of words are not related, but it is also very difficult to reconcile the formal variety which they show. Some early forms are also ambiguous: the form reynge at renge n.² could alternatively be taken as showing a form of reeing n. (and hence an ellipsis for reeing-sieve at reeing n. 1), as could the form rayeng at range n.²Perhaps compare (especially with γ. forms) Middle English rey net (1463 in an apparently isolated attestation) < Anglo-Norman reie , reys , Anglo-Norman and Middle French rei , reis net, especially one used for fishing or trapping birds (first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman; Middle French, French rets , with remodelling after the Latin etymon) < classical Latin rēte rete n. In later use, the γ. forms were apparently sometimes apprehended as being related to array v.: see quots. 1811, 1893 at γ. . A connection with ridder v.¹, riddle n.², and related words seems unlikely.

Etymology: < ree int.In later use, ree int. is sometimes interpreted as the imperative of the verb (see note at that entry).

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Compare gee int.¹, jee adv. and int. In spite of the semantic connection, a derivation < reet , regional (northern) variant of right adv. seems unlikely on the grounds of chronology and of regional distribution (the present word being recorded in East Anglia and Devon (in the first half of the 19th cent.) in addition to northern counties).In some later regional sources, the word is taken as the imperative of ree v.²; however, the absence of unambiguous evidence for the verb before the late 17th cent., and of any later contextual evidence for the verb other than in he will neither hait nor ree , strongly suggest that the verb was formed from the interjection, as does comparison with gee int.¹, gee v.², hait int., whoa int. and n.