"R" Word Origins

revoke

Latin

Borrowed from Middle French révoquer, from Latin revocare, "to call back" — re- plus voco, "to call".

revolt

Latin

Borrowed from French révolter, from Italian rivoltare, related to Latin revolvere, "to roll back".

revolution

Late Latin

From Old French revolucion, from Late Latin revolutio, "the act of revolving", from Latin revolvo, "to roll back".

revolutionary

French

Modelled on French révolutionnaire, formed from revolution plus -ary.

revolutionise

Origin

From revolution + -ise.

revolutionize

Origin

Formed from revolution plus the verb-forming suffix -ize.

revolve

Latin

From Old French revolver, from Latin revolvere, "to roll back" — re- plus volvo, "to roll".

revolver

Origin

From revolve + -er, coined by American inventor Samuel Colt in 1835.

revue

French

Borrowed from French revue, literally "review" — a doublet of the English word "review", which it later replaced in this theatrical sense.

revulsion

Latin

Partly from Middle French révulsion and partly directly from Latin revulsio, "a tearing away".

revulsive

Origin

From Middle French révulsif.

reward

Old French

From Old French reward/regard, related to reguarder, "to look back at" or "to guard" — ultimately from Germanic roots shared with "regard" and "guard".

rewind

Old English

Built from re- ("again") plus wind, going back to Old English windan.

rewire

Origin

From re- ("again") plus wire.

rework

Origin

From re- ("again") plus work.

rewrite

Origin

From re- ("again") plus write.

rex

Latin · 1920

From Latin rex ("king"). As a name for short-furred rabbits and cats it entered English around 1920, after the "castorrex" rabbit breed.

Rey

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish rey ("king"); a doublet of Roy.

Reyes

Spanish

From Spanish Reyes.

Reynard

Old French

From Old French Renart, ultimately from Proto-Germanic elements meaning "counsel" and "strong/hardy" — the same roots behind the name Reinhard.

Reynold

Proto-Germanic

From Anglo-Norman Reinald, ultimately from Proto-Germanic roots meaning "counsel" and "rule" — related to Ronald and Renault.

Reynolds

Origin

Formed from the given name Reynold plus the possessive/patronymic ending -s.

reyse

Origin

From Middle English reysen (“to travel, journey, go on a military expedition”), probably from Middle Dutch reisen, resen (compare Old English rāsian (“to explore”)), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *raisōn (“to set out, depart, journey”). Cognate with Danish rejse (“to travel”), Dutch reizen (“to travel”), German reisen (“to travel”), Norwegian reise (“to travel”), Swedish resa (“to travel”). See also reys.

Reza

Arabic

Ultimately from Arabic رِضَا (riḍā, "satisfaction").

rezai

Origin

Borrowed from Hindustani رَضائی (raẓā'ī) / रज़ाई (razāī), from Classical Persian رضائی (raẓā'ī).

rhapsode

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ῥαψῳδός (rhapsōidós).

rhapsodic

Origin

From Latinized form of Ancient Greek ῥαψῳδῐκός (rhapsōidĭkós).

rhapsodomancy

Origin

From French rhapsodomancie, from Ancient Greek ῥαψῳδός (rhapsōidós) + -mancy.

rhapsody

Greek

From Greek rhapsōidia, "a part of an epic poem recited aloud," from rhaptein ("to sew, stitch together") plus ōidē ("song") — literally "stitched-together song."

rhason

Origin

From Ancient Greek ῥάσον (rháson), compare Greek ράσο (ráso).

rhea

Greek

The bird was scientifically named after Rhea, the Greek Titan and mother of Zeus.

rhema

Origin

From Ancient Greek ῥῆμα (rhêma).

rhenish

Origin

From Rhine + -ish (with the first element taking a Latinate form; see Rhēnus).

rhenium

Origin

From Latin Rhenus (“Rhine”), + -ium.

rhetoric

Greek

From Greek rhetorikos, "of an orator," from rhetor ("public speaker").

rhetorical

Latin

From Latin rhetoricus, from Greek rhetorikos ("concerning public speaking").

Rhett

Dutch

Anglicized from Dutch de Raedt, from Middle Dutch raet ("advice").

rheum

Origin

From Middle English reume, rewme, from Anglo-Norman reume, from Late Latin rheuma, from Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, humour”). Doublet of stream.

rheumatic

Origin

From Middle French rheumatique, from Latin rheumaticus, from Ancient Greek ῥευματικός (rheumatikós), from ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”) from ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow”).

rheumaticky

Origin

From rheumatic + -y.

rheumatism

Greek

From Greek rheumatismos ("discharge, flow"), from rheuma ("stream, flow") — reflecting the old belief that such pain was caused by fluids flowing through the body.

rheumatology

Origin

From Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma) (whence also English rheum) + -ology.

rheumy

Origin

From rheum + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

rhianna

Origin

A variant spelling of Rihanna, from Arabic رَيْحَانَة (rayḥāna, singulative of رَيْحَان (rayḥān, “basil; myrtle”)). This spelling possibly influenced by unrelated Welsh names such as Rhiannon.

rhinal

Origin

From rhin- + -al.

Rhine

Old English

From Old English Rin, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to flow" — the same root behind the word run.

rhinestone

Origin

From Rhine + stone; a calque of French caillou du Rhin (“Rhine pebble”).

rhino

Origin

Shortened from rhinoceros.