Meaning

noun (usually plural) a destructive action

verb make a pillaging or destructive raid on (a place), as in wartimes

verb cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly

originFrom French ravage (“ravage, havoc, spoil”), from ravir (“to bear away suddenly”), from Latin rapere (“to snatch, seize”), akin to Ancient Greek ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to seize”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0