Rid
/rɪd/noun
To free someone or something from a burden, danger, or unwanted thing.
Did you know?‘Rid’ is historically tied to an old Germanic verb meaning to clear or save, and it survives in the eerie phrase ‘rid of’—as if language itself is performing a release ritual.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*reidh-
“To ride; to move swiftly”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*rīdaną
“To ride”
Old English
English
ridan
“To ride”
Middle English
English
riden / ridde
“To ride; later, in the phrase ‘rid of,’ to free from”
Modern English
English
rid
“To free from something unwanted”