ravens

Noun

raven (countable and uncountable, plural ravens)

1. (countable) Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
   • Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull.c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas...
   1. (uncountable) A jet-black, often glossy, colour, like that of the plumage of a raven (etymology 1, noun sense 1).
      • Near-synonyms: ebony, onyx
   2. (archaic, countable) Usually preceded by a descriptive word: a bird from a genus other than Corvus that resembles the raven (etymology 1, noun sense 1), especially in having black plumage; also, an imaginary black bird.
      • The horned Indian Raven or Topau, called the Rhinoceros Bird [section heading]. This horned Bird as it caſts a ſtrong ſmell, ſo it hath a foul look, much exceeding the European Raven in bigneſs.1678, Francis Willughby, “Birds of the Crow-kind”, in John Ray, transl., The Ornithology of Francis Willughby […] Wherein All the Birds hitherto Known, Being Reduced into a Method Sutable to Their...
   3. (countable, historical) A flag bearing a raven (etymology 1, noun sense 1), formerly used by some Viking leaders
   4. (historical, metonymically, uncountable) preceded by the: Viking military power.
      • Behold the vvarrior bright vvith Daniſh ſpoils!— / The raven droops his vvings—and hark! the trumpet, / Exulting, ſpeaks the reſt.1740 August 12 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [James Thomson, David Mallet], Alfred: A Masque. […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1740, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 36
   5. (countable) A person, especially a man, with black hair.

See all 29 meanings of raven