rase

verb

ˈrāz 

rased; rasing

transitive verb

1

archaic : erase

2

archaic : raze sense 1

Word History

Etymology

Middle English rasen "to scrape, shave, erase, expunge, strip off, tear out, pull down, slice, score, tear," borrowed from Anglo-French raser, rasser "to erase, level (a measure of grain) by scraping off, fill to the brim" (Continental Old French also, "to shave, tear down, demolish"), going back to Vulgar Latin *rāsāre, iterative verb from the stem of Latin rādere "to scrape, scratch, pare away, shave, rub smooth, touch lightly in passing," going back to a dialectal Indo-European verb base *razd-, whence also Welsh rhathu "to rub, scrape, file down," Breton razhañ

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1