ravin

/ˈɹæv(ɪ)n/

//ˈɹæv(ɪ)n// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ravin" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ravin” is uncommon English (frequency #94,170 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#94,170
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Property obtained or seized by force or violence; booty, plunder, spoils.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ravin · ravin · English

ravin · rank #94,170 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #94,170
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH ratepayer

Nearest frequency peer: ratepayer (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “ravin”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ravin” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ravin
PropertyValue
Headwordravin
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɹæv(ɪ)n/
Letters5
Frequency rank#94,170
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ravin” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ravinfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “ratepayer” (#94,169), “Rameau” (#94,167), “rebook” (#94,174). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “ravin” is #94,170. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ravin is uncommon English at frequency #94,170 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹæv(ɪ)n/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

ravin has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English ravin, ravine, raven (“rapine, robbery; rape; force, violence; greed, rapacity; stolen goods, booty, plunder; prey, quarry; pursuit of prey; predatoriness, voracity”), from Anglo-Norman ravein, raveine, ravine (“rapin… The correct English form is ravin, spelled R-A-V-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Property obtained or seized by force or violence; booty, plunder, spoils.
  2. 2
    Of a (predatory) animal: seizing or devouring of food or prey; predation.
  3. 3
    Gluttony, greed, rapacity; also, the quality of being predatory; predatoriness.
  4. 4
    A predatory animal; a predator.
  5. 5
    Obtaining or seizing property by force or violence; pillage, plunder, robbery; (countable, chiefly in the plural) an instance of this.
  6. 6
    That which a predatory animal seizes for food; prey; also (hunting) an animal which is hunted; quarry.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how ravin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English ravin, ravine, raven (“rapine, robbery; rape; force, violence; greed, rapacity; stolen goods, booty, plunder; prey, quarry; pursuit of prey; predatoriness, voracity”), from Anglo-Norman ravein, raveine, ravine (“rapine, robbery; rape; force, violence; greed, rapacity; impetuousness; stolen goods”), Middle French ravine, and Old French ravine (“rapine, robbery; force, violence; impetuousness”), from Latin rapīna (“pillage, plunder, robbery, rapine; booty, plunder”), from rapiō (“to abduct, carry off; to grab, snatch; to rape; to steal”) (from Proto-Italic *rapjō (“to seize, take away”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- (“to snatch”)) + -īna (suffix forming abstract nouns). The adjective is derived from Middle English ravin, ravine (“predatory; ravenous”), from Middle English ravin, ravine (noun): see above. The verb is not attested before the 16th century, but words like Middle English raviner, ravinour (“plunderer; robber; rapist; predator”), ravening (“act of robbery; predatoriness, rapacity”, noun), and ravening, ravining (“(adjective) savage, ravening; (noun) preceded by ‘the’: the devil”) suggest that it existed in the 14th and 15th centuries, and was probably derived from the noun. Compare Middle French raviner (“to make furrows”), Old French raviner (“to take by force; to rush; to stream”) (modern French raviner)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ravin"?
"ravin" is spelled R-A-V-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹæv(ɪ)n/.
What does "ravin" mean?
As a noun, "ravin" means: Property obtained or seized by force or violence; booty, plunder, spoils.
How do you pronounce "ravin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ravin" is /ˈɹæv(ɪ)n/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ravin"?
The noun is derived from Middle English ravin, ravine, raven (“rapine, robbery; rape; force, violence; greed, rapacity; stolen goods, booty, plunder; prey, quarry; pursuit of prey; predatoriness, voracity”), from Anglo-Norman ravein, raveine, ravi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ravin", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

prest#94,142saiga#94,215Salop#94,216saman#94,217

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list