ravel

Signification (English)

Verb

1. To entwine or tangle (something) confusedly; to entangle.
2. Often followed by up: to form (something) out of discrete elements, like weaving fabric from threads; to knit.
3. To unwind (a reel of thread, a skein of yarn, etc.); to pull apart (cloth, a seam, etc.); to fray, to unpick, to unravel; also, to pull out (a string of yarn, a thread, etc.) from a piece of fabric, or a skein or reel.
4. To confuse or perplex (someone or something).
5. Often followed by out: to undo the intricacies of (a problem, etc.); to clarify, to disentangle.
6. (obsolete) To destroy or ruin (something), like unravelling fabric.
7. In the APL programming language: to reshape (a variable) into a vector.
8. Often followed by out: of a reel of thread or skein of yarn; or a thread on a reel or a string of yarn in a skein, etc.: to become untwisted or unwound.
9. Often followed by out: of clothing, fabric, etc.: to become unwoven; to fray, to unravel.
10. To become entangled or snarled.

Noun

1. A tangled mess; an entanglement, a snarl, a tangle.
2. A confusing, intricate, or perplexing situation; a complication.
3. A thread which has unravelled from fabric, etc.; also, a situation of fabric, etc., coming apart; an unravelling.

Concepts

embrouiller

nœud

🪢

Synonyms

unravel

tangle

confuse

untangle

unwind

run

knot

🪢

ravel out

snarl

perplex

unscramble

ladder

🪜

untwist

confect

confusion

decamp

decipher

decompress

decrypt

defuse

derange

disarrange

disarray

disassemble

disembarrass

dismantle

disorganize

disrupt

dissolve

entangle

entanglement

extravasation

extricate

flummox

fold

fox

🦊

fray

fuddle

heterodyne

immingle

immix

intermix

jumble

knock down

meld

mingle

mix

mix in

mix up

motley

muddle

obfuscate

obscure

offload

paddle

peter out

pull down

randomise

resolve

revoke

rile

rumple

scramble

sophisticate

spin

stir

stir up

strike down

stump

take down

take out

toss

tussle

twist

uncoil

undo

unknot

unlade

unleash

unload

unpick

unroll

unweave

unwrap

upset

vent

wind off

throw together

addle

become tangled

adulterate

agitate

bewilder

blend

break

break off

break up

clutter

commingle

commix

compound

concoct

Coupé comme

rav‧el

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ˈɹævl̩/

Étymologie (English)

Cognate with néerlandais: rafel

In summary

The verb is borrowed from Dutch ravelen, rafelen (“to tangle, become entangled; to fray; to unweave”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. It has been suggested that the verb is originally derived from the noun, but the Oxford English Dictionary regards this as “very uncertain”, and instead regards the noun as having derived from the verb (compare Dutch rafel, raffel (“frayed thread”)).
Ravel is a contranym having both the senses of tangling (verb senses 1.1, 1.2, 1.4.1, and 2.3; noun sense 1) and untangling (verb senses 1.3, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 2.1, and 2.2; noun sense 2). It would appear that the tangling senses predate the untangling ones (as in Dutch), but this is uncertain because the first published uses of both senses of the words occur around the same time.