Meaning

noun female ruff

verb pass a rope through

verb pass through a hole or opening

originFrom Middle English reve, from Old English rēfa, an aphetism of ġerēfa (also grœ̄fa), from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō (“officer, official”). Compare Danish greve, Swedish greve, Dutch graaf, German Graf. The role, and eventually the word, was mostly replaced by bailiff, of Anglo-Norman origin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0