bereavement

Variant of bereave

transitive verb bereaved or bereft , bereaving

  1. to deprive or rob; dispossess: now usually in the pp. bereft: she was bereft of hope or happiness
  2. to leave in a sad or lonely state, as by loss or death
  3. Obsolete to take away by force

Origin: ME bireven < OE bereafian, to deprive, rob < be-, be- + reafian, akin to Ger rauben: see reave

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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