reka

See also: Appendix:Variations of "reka"

Languages (14)

Faroese • Icelandic • Indonesian • Malay • Maori • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Norse • Serbo-Croatian • Slovene • Sotho • Swedish • Ternate • Tswana

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Page categories

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse vreka (the v had disappeared already in later Old West Norse).

Verb

reka (third person singular past indicative rak, third person plural past indicative róku, supine rikið)

1. to drive, to drift

Conjugation

Conjugation of reka (group v-56)

infinitive	reka
supine	rikið
	present	past
first singular	reki	rak
second singular	rekur	rakst
third singular	rekur	rak
plural	reka	róku
participle (a26)1	rekandi	rikin
	imperative
singular	rek!
plural	rekið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛːka/
• Rhymes: -ɛːka

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vreka (the v had disappeared already in later Old West Norse), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną.

Verb

reka (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative rak, third-person plural past indicative ráku, supine rekið)

1. to drive (forward or away)
2. to run (a farm, business, etc.)
3. to coerce, to drive (someone to do something)
4. to hammer, to hit (iron)
5. (impersonal) to cause to drift [with accusative ‘something’] (idiomatically translated as "drift" with the accusative object as the subject)

   Bátinn rak út á haf.

   The boat drifted out to sea.

Conjugation

reka – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að reka
supine sagnbót		rekið
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		rekandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	rek	rak		reki	ræki
	þú	rekur	rakst		rekir	rækir
	hann, hún, það	rekur	rak		reki	ræki
plural	við	rekum	rákum		rekum	rækjum
	þið	rekið	rákuð		rekið	rækjuð
	þeir, þær, þau	reka	ráku		reki	rækju
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	rek (þú), rektu
plural	þið	rekið (þið), rekiði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

rekast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að rekast
supine sagnbót		rekist
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		rekandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	rekst	rakst		rekist	rækist
	þú	rekst	rakst		rekist	rækist
	hann, hún, það	rekst	rakst		rekist	rækist
plural	við	rekumst	rákumst		rekumst	rækjumst
	þið	rekist	rákust		rekist	rækjust
	þeir, þær, þau	rekast	rákust		rekist	rækjust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	rekst (þú), rekstu
plural	þið	rekist (þið), rekisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

rekinn — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	rekinn	rekin	rekið	reknir	reknar	rekin
accusative (þolfall)	rekinn	rekna	rekið	rekna	reknar	rekin
dative (þágufall)	reknum	rekinni	reknu	reknum	reknum	reknum
genitive (eignarfall)	rekins	rekinnar	rekins	rekinna	rekinna	rekinna
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	rekni	rekna	rekna	reknu	reknu	reknu
accusative (þolfall)	rekna	reknu	rekna	reknu	reknu	reknu
dative (þágufall)	rekna	reknu	rekna	reknu	reknu	reknu
genitive (eignarfall)	rekna	reknu	rekna	reknu	reknu	reknu

Derived terms

• reka augun í
• reka á burt
• reka á dyr
• reka á eftir
• reka áfram
• reka í gegn
• reka sig á
• reka upp öskur
• reka úr sér tunguna
• rekast
• rekast á
• rekast í

Etymology 2

From Old Norse reka.

Noun

reka f (genitive singular reku, nominative plural rekur)

1. shovel

   Synonym: skófla

Declension

Declension of reka (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	reka	rekan	rekur	rekurnar
accusative	reku	rekuna	rekur	rekurnar
dative	reku	rekunni	rekum	rekunum
genitive	reku	rekunnar	rekna, reka	reknanna, rekanna

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay reka from Sanskrit रेखा (rekhā, “outline, drawing”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈreka/ [ˈre.ka]
• Rhymes: -eka
• Syllabification: re‧ka

Verb

reka (active mereka, passive direka)

1. to compile, arrange

   Synonyms: susun, atur

2. to design, plan

   Synonyms: rancang, rencanakan

3. to trick, invent, fabricate

   Synonyms: buat-buat, karang

4. (rare) to think, guess

   Synonyms: kira, tebak

Noun

reka

1. Synonym of rekaan

Derived terms

• reka-reka
• reka-rekaan
• rekaan

Compounds

• reka ulang

Further reading

• “reka” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology

From Sanskrit रेखा (rekhā, “outline, drawing”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛka]
• Hyphenation: ré‧ka
• Rhymes: -a

Verb

reka (Jawi spelling ريک)

1. create, invent

   Synonym: cipta

2. arrange, measure.

   Synonyms: susun, atur, tata

3. compose

   Synonym: karang

Affixed terms

• mereka
• mereka-reka
• reka-reka
• reka-rekaan
• rekaan

Derived terms

• cereka
• cerita rekaan
• reka baru
• reka bentuk
• reka cipta

Further reading

• “reka” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *leka (compare Hawaiian leʻa, Tahitian ʻārearea, Tongan neka and nekaneka).

Adjective

reka

1. nice, pleasant
2. sweet (of taste)
3. tasty

Noun

reka

1. sweetness

Derived terms

• parareka
• rekareka
• whakareka

Further reading

• “reka” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• reken m

Noun

reka f

1. definite feminine singular of reke

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

reka f

1. definite singular of reke

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *rekǭ, *rakō (“rake”), whence also Old Saxon reka, Old High German recho. Also related to Old English raca, racu.

Noun

reka f

1. shovel

Descendants

• Icelandic: reka
• Norwegian: reka, reke

Etymology 2

From earlier vreka, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną.

Verb

reka

1. (Old West Norse) to drive

Conjugation

Conjugation of reka — active (strong class 5)

infinitive	reka
present participle	rekandi
past participle	rekinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	rek	rak		reka	ræka
2nd person singular	rekr	rakt		rekir	rækir
3rd person singular	rekr	rak		reki	ræki
1st person plural	rekum	rákum		rekim	rækim
2nd person plural	rekið	rákuð		rekið	rækið
3rd person plural	reka	ráku		reki	ræki
imperative	present
2nd person singular	rek
1st person plural	rekum
2nd person plural	rekið

Conjugation of reka — mediopassive (strong class 5)

infinitive	rekask
present participle	rekandisk
past participle	rekizk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	rekumk	rákumk		rekumk	rækumk
2nd person singular	reksk	rakzk		rekisk	rækisk
3rd person singular	reksk	raksk		rekisk	rækisk
1st person plural	rekumsk	rákumsk		rekimsk	rækimsk
2nd person plural	rekizk	rákuzk		rekizk	rækizk
3rd person plural	rekask	rákusk		rekisk	rækisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	reksk
1st person plural	rekumsk
2nd person plural	rekizk

Descendants

See vreka.

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “reka”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• rijéka (Ijekavian)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *rěka, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to flow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rěːka/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: re‧ka

Noun

réka f (Cyrillic spelling ре́ка, diminutive rèčica, augmentative rèčina, relational adjective rȇčnī)

1. a river

Declension

Declension of reka

	singular	plural
nominative	reka	reke
genitive	reke	reka
dative	reci	rekama
accusative	reku	reke
vocative	reko	reke
locative	reci	rekama
instrumental	rekom	rekama

See also

• Rijéka

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *rěka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rèːka/

Noun

rẹ́ka f

1. (geography) river

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	réka
gen. sing.	réke
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	réka	réki	réke
genitive (rodȋlnik)	réke	rék	rék
dative (dajȃlnik)	réki	rékama	rékam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	réko	réki	réke
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	réki	rékah	rékah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	réko	rékama	rékami

Noun

reka

1. inflection of rek:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative dual

Further reading

• “reka”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Sotho

Verb

reka

1. to buy

Swedish

Etymology 1

Clipping of rekognosera. Attested since the 1960s.

Verb

reka (present rekar, preterite rekade, supine rekat, imperative reka)

1. (colloquial) reconnoiter

Conjugation

Conjugation of reka (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	reka		rekas
supine	rekat		rekats
imperative	reka		—
imper. plural1	reken		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	rekar	rekade	rekas	rekades
ind. plural1	reka	rekade	rekas	rekades
subjunctive2	reke	rekade	rekes	rekades
present participle		rekande
past participle		rekad

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Etymology 2

Clipping of rekommendera. Attested since the 1950s.

Verb

reka (present rekar, preterite rekade, supine rekat, imperative reka)

1. (colloquial, rare) recommend

Conjugation

Conjugation of reka (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	reka		rekas
supine	rekat		rekats
imperative	reka		—
imper. plural1	reken		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	rekar	rekade	rekas	rekades
ind. plural1	reka	rekade	rekas	rekades
subjunctive2	reke	rekade	rekes	rekades
present participle		rekande
past participle		rekad

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

References

• reka in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• reka in Svensk ordbok (SO)

Anagrams

• ekar, rake

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɾe.ka]

Verb

reka

1. (stative) to be apart

Conjugation

Conjugation of reka

		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		toreka	foreka	mireka
2nd person		noreka	nireka
3rd person	masculine	oreka	ireka yoreka (archaic)
	feminine	moreka
	neuter	ireka

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tswana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ́.kà/

Verb

go rêka (perfect rekile)

1. to buy