Bereave

'To bereave' is a verb meaning 'to deprive, or to dispossess [someone of]'. Since 1650, it has only been used of non-material things, such as 'hope' and 'life'; and its most common use in modern times, for 'the depriving by death of someone of a close relative', in such phrases as an "accident bereaved the father of his child"; " she was bereaved of both parents and her husband by the War". For an etymological note about the origins of this word, see be-.

'To bereave' is an irregular verb. Its forms are given here:

Base form	past tense	-ed participle	Remarks
bereave	bereft or bereaved	bereft or bereaved	The 'regular variant' of Class 3

This is one of the "the 250 or so irregular verbs" listed in Quirk 1985. The list "contains most of the irregular verbs in present-day English ... but is not meant to be exhaustive, particularly with regard to derivative verbs." AWE has copied most of the entries in that list. The verb 'to bereave' belongs to Quirk's Class 3 A.

Quirk notes:

<Rare; restricted use>
Adj:'bereft of hope;
V-ed₂ bereaved usually = 'deprived of a close relative by death'