raze

See also: Appendix:Variations of "raze"

English

WOTD – 8 January 2016

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: rāz, IPA^(key): /ɹeɪz/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Homophones: raise, rase, rays, rehs, réis, res
• Rhymes: -eɪz

Etymology 1

From Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figuratively) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman raser, rasere, rasser, Middle French, Old French raser (“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin *raso (“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, scratch; to gnaw”). Doublet of rash (etymology 2 and etymology 7).

Verb

raze (third-person singular simple present razes, present participle razing, simple past and past participle razed)

1. (transitive) To demolish; to level to the ground.
   • 2017 May 13, Barney Ronay, “Antonio Conte’s brilliance has turned Chelsea’s pop-up team into champions”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London:

     Just as significant in the long term, Chelsea were also granted permission this season for their new on-site mega-stadium, a 60,000-seat upgrade that will mean the current Stamford Bridge is razed and replaced by something that looks like a vast alien space yurt made of giant Martian redwood stems.

2. (transitive) To destroy; to strike out of existence; to obliterate.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene i:

     UUithout reſpect of ſex, degree or age.
     He raceth all his foes with fire and ſword.

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     We both loved her now and for all time, she was stamped and carven on our hearts, and no other woman or interest could ever raze that splendid die.

3. (transitive) To scrape as if with a razor.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     Draw forth thy ſword, thou mightie man at armes,
     Intending but to raiſe my charmed ſkin:
     And Ioue himſelfe will ſtretch his hand from heauen,
     To ward the blow, and ſhield me ſafe from harme, […]

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:destroy

Translations

to demolish

• Catalan: arrasar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拆毀 / 拆毁 (zh) (chāihuǐ), 夷為平地 / 夷为平地 (zh) (yíwéipíngdì)

• Czech: srovnat se zemí (cs) pf, zbourat (cs) pf, zdemolovat pf
• Danish: rasere
• Finnish: tuhota maan tasalle, hävittää maan tasalle
• French: raser (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐδαφίζω (edaphízō)

• Icelandic: rífa niður, leggja í rúst, jafna við jörðu
• Ido: rezigar (io)
• Italian: abbattere (it), demolire (it)
• Latin: complānō, assolo
• Maori: tāhoro
• Polish: zburzyć (pl)
• Portuguese: demolir (pt), arrasar (pt), aniquilar (pt)
• Russian: разрушать до основания (razrušatʹ do osnovanija)
• Serbo-Croatian: sravniti (sh)
• Spanish: arrasar (es), demoler (es), abatir (es), aniquilar (es)

to scrape as if with a razor

• Catalan: rasurar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 剃 (zh) (tì),削 (zh)

• Italian: radere al suolo
• Maori: heu
• Portuguese: raspar (pt)
• Russian: выскабливать (ru) (vyskablivatʹ), выскребать (ru) (vyskrebatʹ)
• Spanish: rasurar (es)

Etymology 2

Noun

raze

1. Obsolete spelling of race (rhizome of ginger).

Etymology 3

Noun

raze (plural razes)

1. A swinging fence in a watercourse to prevent cattle passing through.

Further reading

• raze (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Azer, Azer., Ezra, Reza

Dutch

Verb

raze

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of razen

Anagrams

• Ezra

Friulian

Etymology 1

Uncertain; possibly of South Slavic or substrate origin. Compare Slovene raca, Romanian rață.

Noun

raze f (plural razis)

1. duck

Etymology 2

Compare Italian razza.

Noun

raze f (plural razis)

1. race
2. breed
3. strain

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French raser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣaze/

Verb

raze

1. to shave

References

• Targète, Jean and Urciolo, Raphael G. Haitian Creole-English dictionary (1993; →ISBN)

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈraze]

Noun

raze f

1. inflection of rază:
   1. indefinite genitive/dative singular
   2. indefinite nominative/accusative/genitive/dative plural