Ravaging
/ˈræv.ɪ.dʒɪŋ/noun
Causing severe damage or destruction; devastating.
Did you know?Ravage entered English through Old French with the sense of violently carrying off or plundering, and it is historically linked to the same root family as words for wild, forceful movement.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂rep-
“to seize, snatch, or grab”
Latin
Latin
rapere
“to seize, carry off, or tear away”
Late Latin
Latin
*rapaticum
“plundering, ravaging”
Old French
Old French
ravager
“to devastate, lay waste”
Middle English
English
ravagen
“to spoil, plunder, or destroy violently”
Modern English
English
ravaging
“devastating or destroying severely”