Emily Dickinson Lexicon

REACH, v.t. [Raught, the ancient preterit, is obsolete. The verb is now regular; pp. reached. Sax. racan, recan, ræcan, or hræcan; Goth. rakyan; Ir. righim, roichim; Dan. rekker; D. reiken, rekken; G. reichen, recken; Sw. räcka; Gr. ορεγω; It. recere, to reach, retch or vomit; L. rego, to rule or govern, to make right or straight, that is, to strain or stretch, the radical sense. The English sense of reach appears in L. porrigo and porricio. We find in the Shemitic languages, Ch. רנג, to desire, to long for, Syr. ܪܓ ragi, and ܐܪܓ aragi, to desire. This is the Greek ορεγω, to reach, to stretch, the radical sense of desiring. The latter Syriac word is the Hebrew ארג, to weave; but the primary sense is to stretch or strain. This verb in Arabic أرِجَ ariga, signifies to send forth a grateful smell, to breathe fragrance, the root of the L. fragro. But the primary sense is the same, to reach, to extend; to shoot forth. The same word in Ethiopic ረገዐ raga, San. rich'h, signifies to congeal or condense, to make stiff or rigid. This is the L. rigeo, Gr. ῥιγοω, and hence L. frigeo, whence frigid. This sense also is from stretching or drawing, making tense or rigid. The radical sense of רקע is the same, whence region, and the Heb. רקיע, the expanse of heaven or the firmament. The L. rogo has the same radical sense, to reach, to urge. See Class Rg, No. 1, 8, 15, 18, 21.]

1. To extend; to stretch; in a general sense; sometimes followed by out and forth; as, to reach out the arm. Hence,
2. To extend to; to touch by extending, either the arm, alone, or with an instrument in the hand; as, to reach a book on the shelf; I can not reach the object with my cane; the seaman reaches the bottom of the river with a pole or a line.
3. To strike from a distance. O patron power, thy present aid afford, / That I may reach the beast. – Dryden.
4. To deliver with the hand by extending the arm; to hand. He reached [to] me an orange. He reached me a full cup. – 2 Esdras.
5. To extend or stretch from a distance. Reach hither thy finger … reach hither thy hand. – John xx.
6. To arrive at; to come to. The ship reached her port in safety. We reached New York on Thursday. The letter reached me at seven o'clock.
7. To attain to or arrive at, by effort, labor or study; hence, to gain or obtain. Every artist should attempt to reach the point of excellence. The best accounts of the appearances of nature which human penetration can reach, come short of its reality. – Cheyne.
8. To penetrate to. Whatever alterations are made in the body, if they reach not the mind, there is no perception. – Locke.
9. To extend to so as to include or comprehend in fact or principle. The law reached the intention of the promoters, and this act fixed the natural price of money. – Locke. If these examples of grown men reach not the case of children, let them examine. – Locke.
10. To extend to. Thy desire leads to no excess that reaches blame. – Milton.
11. To extend; to spread abroad. Trees reach'd too far their pamper'd boughs. – Milton.
12. To take with the hand. Lest therefore now his bolder hand / Reach also of the tree of life and eat. [Unusual.] – Milton.
13. To overreach; to deceive. – South.