"R" Word Origins

rough

Old English

From Old English rūh, "rough, hairy," from a Proto-Germanic root; related to German rau and Dutch ruig.

roughage

Origin

From rough (“not smooth; crude, unrefined”) + -age (suffix forming nouns with the sense of appurtenance or collection).

roughly

Origin

From rough plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

roughneck

Origin

From rough + neck, originally "someone who works a manual labour job".

roughness

Old English

From Old English hreoh (\"rough, stormy\") plus the suffix -ness, which turns an adjective into a noun.

roulette

French

Borrowed from French roulette, meaning "little wheel," from roue ("wheel").

round

Latin

From Old French roont/ront, ultimately from Latin rotundus ("round, circular") — the same root that gives us "rotund."

round trip

Origin

From round (“complete, entire"; "forming a circle or cycle”) + trip (“journey”).

roundabout

Origin

From round + about, describing something that goes around rather than straight through.

roundel

Origin

From Middle English roundel, rundel, rondel, from Old French rondel (“something round and flat”), a diminutive of rond (“round”). More at round.

rounder

Origin

From round + -er, an agent suffix meaning "one who rounds" or "a thing that rounds."

rounders

Origin

From round + -er + -s, presumably for the circuit that batters make around the field.

roundhouse

Dutch

From round + house, likely modeled on the Dutch word rondhuis ("guardhouse").

rounding

Origin

From round + -ing.

roundly

Origin

From Middle English roundly, roundely, roundliche, equivalent to round + -ly.

roundup

Origin

A compound noun formed from the phrasal verb "round up."

rouse

Latin

From Anglo-Norman reuser, originally describing a hawk shaking out its feathers, from Latin recūsō.

rousing

Origin

From rouse + -ing.

Rousseau

French

Originally a French nickname for a red-haired person, from roux ("redhead"). A doublet of the surname Russell.

roustabout

Origin

From roust + about.

rout

Latin

From Old French route ("group of people; a breaking apart"), from Latin rupta, the feminine form of ruptus ("broken"). A doublet of "route."

route

Latin

From Old French route, from Latin rupta (via) — literally "a path made by force," from rumpere ("to break").

routed

Origin

From route or rout + -ed.

router

Origin

From route + -er.

routinary

Origin

From routine + -ary.

routine

French

Borrowed from French routine, itself built on route ("path"), reflecting the idea of following a well-worn course.

routinely

Origin

From routine + -ly.

routing

Origin

From route + -ing.

roux

French

Borrowed from French roux, meaning "reddish-brown," describing the color the mixture takes on when cooked longer.

rove

Middle English

Probably from a Middle English word related to Old Norse ráfa ("to wander").

rover

Proto-Germanic

From Middle Dutch rôver ("pillager, robber"), ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to plunder."

roving

Origin

From rove + -ing.

row

Old English

The rowing sense is from Old English rōwan; the "line" and "argument" senses developed separately in Middle English.

rowable

Origin

From row + -able.

rowan

Old Norse

From Old Norse reynir, referring to the tree, related to a root meaning "red" (from its berries).

rowbarge

Origin

From row + barge.

rowboat

Origin

A compound of row + boat.

rowdy

Origin

Possibly derived from "row," in the sense of a noisy argument.

Rowe

Middle English

* As an English surname, from Middle English Rowe, from the noun row. Compare Rew and Rawe. * Also as an English surname, variant of Rolfe, Rough, Ralph, Rowson.

rowen

Origin

From Middle English rewayn, from Anglo-Norman rewain, from an Old Northern French variant of Old French regain (“an increase”), from re- + gaigner (“to till, win”). The alternative forms represent replacement of unanalysable final /ən/ with the more tractable suffixes -et, -ing; roughing presumably relies on a lost pronunciation of rough as /ˈɹaʊ/.

Rowena

Origin

From the name of the daughter of Hengist and wife of Vortigern in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century pseudohistorical Latin work Historia regum Britanniae. There have been attempts to connect it to some unattested Old English or Common Brittonic name, but without any real evidence. It was revived after Walter Scott used it in his novel Ivanhoe (1819). Some places are named after Lady Rowena in the novel.

rowing

Origin

From row + -ing.

Rowley

Old English

From Old English ruh ("rough") + leah ("clearing, wood").

rowlock

Origin

An alteration, based on row, of earlier oarlock, from Old English ārlōc, equivalent to oar + lock.

rowport

Origin

From row + port.

roxana

Origin

From Ancient Greek Ῥωξᾱ́νη (Rhōxā́nē) of Old Persian or Bactrian origin. Akin to Persian روشن (rowšan).

Roxane

French

From French Roxane, from Ancient Greek Ῥωξᾱ́νη (Rhōxā́nē), from Old Persian *rauxšnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂. Doublet of Lua and Luna.

Roxanne

Persian

A spelling variant of Roxane, ultimately from Old Persian, meaning roughly "bright" or "dawn."