raw

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun informal terms for nakedness
  2. adjective (used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes
  3. adjective having the surface exposed and painful

Etymology

From Middle English rawe, raw, rau, from Old English hrēaw (“raw, uncooked”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrau, from Proto-Germanic *hrawaz, *hrēwaz (“raw”), from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“raw meat, fresh blood”). Cognate with Scots raw (“raw”), Dutch rauw (“raw”), German roh (“raw”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish rå (“raw”), Faroese ráur (“raw”), Icelandic hrár (“raw”), Latin crūdus (“raw, bloody, uncooked”), Irish cró (“blood”), Lithuanian kraujas (“blood”), Russian кровь (krovʹ, “blood”). Related also to Old English hrēow, hrēoh (“rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed, troubled, sad, stormy, tempestuous”). More at ree. Doublet of crude.

In classic literature

Synonyms

altogether, birthday suit

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