riffeln

German

Etymology

From Old High German riffilōn (to ripple, remove seeds from flax), derived from riffila (ripple), from Proto-Germanic *ripilō, cognate with Dutch repel, English ripple.

The sense “to cut grooves into” is from unrelated German Low German rieveln, riffeln, frequentative of Middle Low German rīven (to rake). Compare German Riefe (groove), Dutch rijf (rake), (obsolete) rijffelen (to scrape), Old Norse hrīfa (rake).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʁɪfəln/

Verb

riffeln (third-person singular simple present riffelt, past tense riffelte, past participle geriffelt, auxiliary haben)

  1. to groove (provide with narrow, parallel channels)
  2. to ripple (remove seeds from the stalks of flax by means of a comb)

Conjugation

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