rive
/ɹaɪv/verb, noun
rive is spelled R-I-V-E: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, rive means “To tear apart by force; to rend; to split; to cleave” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in rive?
| Letters | 4: R-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 56,788th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is rive?
Rive appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rive?
- US /ɹaɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with rive?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rive from its last stressed vowel (/aɪv/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: vier, vire.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of rive
- rives present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- riving participle, present
- rived past, participle
- rove past, participle
- rave past, participle
- riven participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To tear apart by force; to rend; to split; to cleave.
- 2
archaicTo pierce or cleave with a weapon.
- 3
To break apart; to split.
- 4
rareTo burst open; explode; discharge.
- 5
To use a technique of splitting or sawing wood radially from a log (e.g. clapboards).
- 6
To land.
noun
- 1
A place torn; a rent; a rift.
- 2
A bank or shore.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | aufreißen , (etwas) spalten |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rive come from?
From Middle English riven (“to rive”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse rífa (“to rend, tear apart”), from Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (“to tear, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to crumble, tear”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).