Dictionary

rith en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɹaɪθ/ (UK, US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• (UK, US)

Etymology

From Middle English rīth (“a small stream”), rithe, from Old English rīþ m (“a small stream”), rīþe f, from Proto-West Germanic *rīþ, from Proto-Germanic *rīþaz, *rīþǭ (“stream, beck, brook”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to arise, arise”). Cognate with Old Frisian rīth, rīd (“stream, beck”), Old Saxon rīth (“stream, torrent”) (> Middle Low German rîde), Old Dutch rīth (“stream, beck”), German -reide (“stream”, in placenames).

Meanings

1. (obsolete) A small stream or channel.
   • They waded further up the rith.
   • […] Riths or Channels in the Harbour, as proposed in the Evidence of Charles Mant, Esquire, and alluded to in the Petition from Langstone, Your Committee are of opinion may be beneficially adopted and introduced in any Bill hereafter to […] 1968 (quoting an earlier record), Irish University Press Series of British Parliamentary [Records], page 472
   • […] does not Cleanse part of two Riths or Sewers and repair so much of Pagham Wall against the Sea as doth belong to him to cleanse and to repair and the said Edward Woods to have notice to appear before us on the twenty Seventh day of this Instant December to give […] 1973 (quoting an earlier record), The Land Drainage Records of West Sussex: A Catalogue (West Sussex Record Office, David J. Butler), page xix

Forms

Synonyms

bourn (small (usually fordable) stream) · rivulet (small (usually fordable) stream) · fresh (small water course) · race (small water course) · rill (small (usually fordable) stream) · beck (small water course) · streamlet (small (usually fordable) stream) · runnel (small (usually fordable) stream) · run (small water course) · runlet (small (usually fordable) stream) · gill (small (usually fordable) stream) · burn (small water course) · freshet (small (usually fordable) stream) · rindle (small (usually fordable) stream) · crick (small water course) · brooklet (small (usually fordable) stream)