An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/rauben

by Friedrich Kluge

rauben, verb, ‘to rob, plunder,’ from Middle High German rouben, Old High German roubôn; Old Saxon rôbôn, Anglo-Saxon reáfian, whence English to reave (the Anglo-Saxon substantive reáf has become obsolete in English), Gothic biraubôn, ‘to plunder, despoil.’ The Teutonic cognates passed with two distinct meanings into Romance; compare on the one hand Italian ruba, ‘robbery,’ rubare, ‘to rob,’ French dérober, ‘to steal,’ and on the other Italian roba, ‘coat, dress,’ French robe. The latter are connected with Raub, since by inference from Old High German roub and Anglo-Saxon reáf, ‘robbery, booty, armour, dress,’ the Old Teutonic word had probably acquired the meanings of ‘garments got by plundering, dress (generally).’ See also raufen.