An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/reffen

by Friedrich Kluge

reffen, verb, ‘to hatchel hemp or flax,’ from Middle High German reffen (a variant of raffen), ‘to tug, pluck.’ The Modern High German sense is probably based on a Low German word. Compare Dutch repel, ‘breaking flax,’ repelen, ‘to break flax,’ English ripple, ‘hatchel.’