# raven

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹeɪvn̩/ · frequency rank #9,805

## Definitions
1. Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
2. Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
3. Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
4. Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
5. Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
6. Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
7. A person who brings bad news or makes pessimistic predictions.

## Etymology
From Middle English raven, reven (“raven (Corvus corax); carrion crow (Corvus corone); rook (Corvus frugilegus) (?); the constellation Corvus; gall nuts of the Aleppo oak (Quercus infectoria) used to make black ink”), from Old English hræfn (“raven”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrabn (“raven”), from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz (“raven”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱrep- (“to crackle; to rattle”) or *ḱer- (“to croak, crow”), probably ultimately onomatopoeic, referring to the bird’s call.

## Easily confused with
- **ren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-ren)
- **Ravi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-ravi)
- **rove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rove)
- **river** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-river)
- **risen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-risen)
- **rover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rover)
- **rosen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rosen)
- **Ruben** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-ruben)
- **revel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-revel)
- **rayon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rayon)
- **razer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-razer)
- **raves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-raves)
- **razed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-razed)
- **Rouen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rouen)
- **riven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-riven)
- **Rogen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rogen)
- **rivet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-rivet)
- **ripen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-ripen)
- **ravine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-ravine)
- **raving** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raven-vs-raving)

## Common misspellings (7)
`arven`, `raevn`, `ravenn`, `ravne`, `ravven`, `rraven`, `rvaen`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/raven