reeve

/ɹiːv/

reeve noun: any of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.

Noun (1)

reeve (plural reeves)

(historical) Any of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.
- His first convert was the reeve of the city of Lincoln called Blæcca, ...1999, Bede, edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 99
Synonyms:

provost
(Canada) The president of a township or municipal district council.
(historical) The holder of a proposed but unadopted commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force, equivalent to wing commander.
- A list of new titles was manufactured as follows: Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight-Leader, Squadron-Leader, Reeve, Banneret, Fourth-Ardian, Third-Ardian, Second-Ardian, Ardian, Air Marshal. […] “Reeve”, perhaps, savoured a little too much of legal authority.1936, The Periodical, volumes 21-22, Oxford University Press, page 67

Verb

reeve (third-person singular simple present reeves, present participle reeving, simple past and past participle reeved or rove)

(dialectal) To pass (a rope) through a hole or opening, especially so as to fasten it.
- "Let the rope go," he says. With his other hand he reaches down and reeves the two turns from the stanchion.1930, William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, Library of America, published 1985, page 98

Noun (2)

reeve (plural reeves)

A female of the species Philomachus pugnax, a highly gregarious, medium-sized wading bird of Eurasia; the male is a ruff.

Proper noun capitalized: Reeve

Reeve

A surname originating as an occupation for a bailiff.
An unincorporated community in Vance Creek, Barron County, Wisconsin, United States.

reeve meaning in Urdu

reeve in Urdu

پرونا, رسی پرونا

Examples of reeve in a sentence

Reeve Edgar le Sherman, honest and fair," he mocked, "defrauding his own fellows for gain.
Can't wait to tell my wife's boyfriend about this as he loves keanu reeves!
A reeve shows her readiness to copulate by crouching in a particular residence.

All 12 example sentences with reeve

Synonyms of reeve

provost

Forms of reeve

Noun
plural	reeves
alternative form (obsolete)	reve
Verb
third-person singular present	reeves
present participle	reeving
past participle	reeved
past	reeved
past participle	rove
past	rove

Plural of reeve: reeves

Origin of reeve

From Middle English reve, from Old English rēfa, an aphetism of ġerēfa (also grœ̄fa), from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō (“officer, official”). Compare Danish greve, Swedish greve, Dutch graaf, German Graf. The role, and eventually the word, was mostly replaced by bailiff, of Anglo-Norman origin.

Apparent alternative form of reef (“to pull or yank strongly”, verb) or from Dutch reven (“to take in, insert”).

Variant of dialectal ree, but of obscure ultimate origin.

Words formed from reeve

Phrases with reeve

Words that rhyme with reeve

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about reeve

What does reeve mean?: Reeve means any of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.
What is reeve in Urdu?: Reeve in Urdu is پرونا, رسی پرونا. See Reeve meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is reeve?: Reeve can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce reeve?: Reeve is pronounced /ɹiːv/.
What is the plural of reeve?: The plural of reeve is reeves.

Words near reeve in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: reeve (page history and authors); Reeve (page history and authors); reeve (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-reeve.wav.

Cite this entry: “reeve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reeve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.