bereaver

be·reave

 (bĭ-rēv′)

tr.v. be·reaved or be·reft (-rĕft′), be·reav·ing, be·reaves

1. To take a loved one from (a person), especially by death: "Cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved" (Alan Paton).

2. To take something valuable or necessary from (a person or thing): "He was subject to fits, which bereaved him ... of his senses" (David Hume).

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[Middle English bireven, to deprive, from Old English berēafian; see reup- in Indo-European roots.]

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be·reave′ment n.

be·reav′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bereaver

(bɪˈriːvə)

n

a person who bereaves

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014