Etymology: < rid v. Eng. Dial. Dict. at rid sb.¹ also records use in the meanings ‘boughs of trees collectively’ (Derbyshire, late 18th cent.), ‘refuse, remains collectively’ (Yorkshire, late 19th cent.), ‘riddance’ (Somerset, late 19th cent.).

Etymology: Acronym < the initial letters of reduce impaired driving ( < reduce v. + impaired adj. + driving n.), after rid v. Compare earlier RIDE n.³

Etymology: < rid, past participle of ride v. (see discussion at that entry). Compare earlier ridden adj.

Etymology: < rid, past participle of rid v. Compare earlier redd adj.Apparently attested earlier in place names, as la Rede-diche, Sussex (with e as the south-eastern reflex of Old English y; a1200; now Reddyke), Ridleia, Cheshire (c1200; now Ridley), Ryddeley, Northumberland (1268; now Ridley), etc., and in surnames derived from them, as Henr. de la Ruddegate (1284), Joh. atte Rededene (1296), Laurencio ate Rydelonde (1296), etc.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Icelandic ryðja (past tense ruddi , past participle ruddr ), Norwegian rydja , Old Swedish rydhia , rödhia (Swedish röja , (now chiefly regional) rödja , rydda , etc.), Old Danish ryddæ , røddæ (Danish rydde , rødde ), all in senses ‘to clear (land) of trees, undergrowth, stones, etc.’, ‘to clear (a way or space)’, ‘to free from rubbish or obstacles, to clean out’ < the same base (with different suffix) as the Germanic verbs cited at rode v.¹ and (with different ablaut grade) Old High German riuten (see reest n.), probably ultimately < the same Indo-European base as ripe v.² and reif n. Compare post-classical Latin ridare , rudare , rudiare to rid, clear away, clear out (frequently from 1325 in British sources; < English). Most of the main senses of the English word are paralleled by rede v.² (which is etymologically unrelated) and by redd v.² (which is perhaps in part developed from rede v.² and in part a variant of rid v.); it is likely that these verbs showed some semantic influence on one another.The assumption that the word is cognate with the various North Germanic forms, rather than showing a borrowing from early Scandinavian, rests on the early attestation of related word forms, rather than on grounds of word form. Earlier currency is implied by ridding n.; compare also the place-name evidence cited at rid adj.² The common Old English place-name elements (in sense ‘clearing’) *ryden and (West Saxon) *rīed , (Anglian) *rēod also appear to be from the same Germanic base (see further A. H. Smith Eng. Place-name Elements (1956) II. 89–91, M. Gelling & A. Cole Landscape of Place-names (2000) 244). It is unclear whether the Old English past participle form geryd (one isolated attestation: see quot. lOE at sense 1a) represents a prefixed or an unprefixed verb, i.e. geryddan or ryddan , neither of which is otherwise attested. In Old English the prefixed form aryddan to pillage, plunder (compare a- prefix¹) is attested earlier:eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 53/1 Expilatam, arydid. The γ. forms of the past participle are found chiefly in sense Phrases 4 and related phrases, and probably result from association with ride v. (compare ride v. 5c).