"R" Word Origins

ripple effect

English

A metaphor from the rings that spread when something is dropped into water; ripple itself is of uncertain earlier origin.

riptide

Origin

From rip + tide.

Risa

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese りさ (Risa).

rise

Old English

From Old English rīsan, "to rise," from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to arise" or "get up."

risen

Origin

The past participle of "rise," formed the same way English builds other "-en" past participles like "broken" or "spoken."

riser

Origin

"Rise" plus the agent suffix "-er," originally meaning simply "one who rises."

Rishabh

Hindi

Transliteration of Hindi ऋषभ (ŕṣabh).

rishi

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit ऋषि (ṛṣi), meaning "seer," an ancient word going back to Proto-Indo-Iranian roots for someone who perceives or channels sacred knowledge.

risible

Origin

From Middle French risible and directly from Late Latin rīsibilis, from Latin rīsus (“laughter”) + -ibilis, from the perfect passive participle of rīdeō (“laugh”).

rising

Origin

From "rise" plus "-ing," the ordinary way English turns a verb into a noun or adjective describing the action.

risk

Latin

Borrowed via French from Italian risco/rischio; the deeper origin is disputed, with theories ranging from Latin resecum ("that which cuts, a reef") to Arabic and Greek roots tied to fortune or hazard at sea.

risotto

Italian

From Italian risotto, built from riso ("rice").

Rita

Italian · 1900

A shortening of Italian Margherita and Spanish Margarita, popularized in part by Saint Rita, canonized in 1900.

ritalin

Origin · 1940

Coined in the 1940s by the Swiss chemist Leandro Panizzon, who synthesized the drug and named it after his wife Marguerite, nicknamed "Rita."

Ritchie

Origin

From Richard.

rite

Latin

From Latin ritus via Old French and Middle English, essentially unchanged in meaning since Roman times.

rith

Origin

From Middle English rīth (“a small stream”), rithe, from Old English rīþ m (“a small stream”), rīþe f, from Proto-West Germanic *rīþ, from Proto-Germanic *rīþaz, *rīþǭ (“stream, beck, brook”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to arise, arise”). Cognate with Old Frisian rīth, rīd (“stream, beck”), Old Saxon rīth (“stream, torrent”) (> Middle Low German rîde), Old Dutch rīth (“stream, beck”), German -reide (“stream”, in placenames).

rito

Spanish

From Spanish río ("river") plus the diminutive suffix -ito, literally "little river"; the weaving sense comes from a separate Pacific-region usage.

ritter

German

Borrowed directly from German Ritter ("knight, rider"), related to English "rider."

Ritu

Origin

c. late 20th c., from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 日土 (Rìtǔ).

ritual

Latin

From Latin rituālis, itself built from ritus ("rite") plus the adjective ending "-alis."

ritualistic

Origin

From "ritual" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-istic."

ritz

Origin

A back-formation from "ritzy," which itself comes from the luxurious Ritz Hotels founded by César Ritz.

ritzy

Origin

Named after the Ritz Hotels founded by César Ritz, with the "-y" adjective ending added; compare "glitzy," coined the same way.

riva

Italian

From an Italian, Catalan, and Spanish surname originally given to someone who lived by a shore — from riva, meaning "shore" or "bank."

rival

Latin

From Latin rivalis, literally "one who uses the same stream as another" — the idea being that neighbours sharing a water source naturally end up in competition.

rivalry

Origin

From "rival" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ry," on the same pattern as "wizardry" or "chivalry."

rive

Origin

From Middle English riven (“to rive”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse rífa (“to rend, tear apart”), from Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (“to tear, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to crumble, tear”). Cognate with Danish rive (“to tear”), Old Frisian rīva (“to tear”), Old English ārǣfan (“to let loose, unwrap”), Old Norse ript (“breach of contract, rift”), Norwegian Bokmål rive (“to tear”), Swedish riva (”to tear”) and Albanian rrip (“belt, rope”). More at rift.

river

Latin

From Anglo-Norman rivere, ultimately from Latin riparius ("of a riverbank"), from ripa ("bank"). It is unrelated to Latin rivus ("stream"), despite the resemblance — that root instead gives us "rival."

Rivera

Spanish

From Spanish Rivera, meaning "riverbank" or "shore".

riverbank

Origin

A straightforward compound of "river" and "bank."

riverbed

German

A compound of "river" and "bed," paralleling similar compounds in Dutch, German, and Swedish.

riverboat

Origin

A compound of "river" and "boat."

Riverdale

Origin

From river + dale.

riverside

Origin

A compound of "river" and "side."

rivet

Latin

From Old French rivet, from river ("to fasten"), ultimately traced back to Latin ripa ("riverbank") — the same root that gives us "river" and "rival."

riveter

Origin

From rivet + -er.

riveting

Origin

From "rivet" plus the "-ing" ending, in the figurative sense of being "fastened" to something by its interest.

riviera

Latin

From Italian riviera, from Old French riviere, tracing back to Latin riparius ("of a riverbank") — the same ultimate root as "river."

Rivka

Hebrew

From Hebrew רִבְקָה (rivká); a doublet of Rebecca.

rivulet

Origin

From Italian rivoletto, diminutive of rivolo (“trickle, little stream”), diminutive of rivo (“stream, brook, creek”), ultimately from Latin rīvulus, diminutive of rīvus. By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -ule + -et.

Riyadh

Arabic

From Arabic الرِّيَاض (ar-riyāḍ), literally "the meadows".

Riza

Arabic

From Persian رِضَا (rizā), from Arabic رِضَا (riḍā, "satisfaction, fulfillment").

rizz

English

A clipping of charisma, taking the middle of the word rather than the start.

rizzler

Origin

Blend of rizz + riddler, coined in reference to the Riddler character from DC Comics.

Rizzo

Old Italian

Borrowed from Old Italian and Neapolitan Rizzo and/or front Sicilian Rizzu.

RMA

English

An initialism of Return Merchandise Authorization.

rn

English

An abbreviation of right now in sense 1, and an initialism of registered nurse in sense 2.