"R" Word Origins

rudimentary

Latin

From rudiment plus the adjective ending -ary; rudiment traces back to Latin rudis, "raw" or "unworked."

Rudolf

German

From Old High German "hrod" (fame) and "wulf" (wolf).

Rudra

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit रुद्र (rudra).

Rudy

Origin

From Rudolph + -y.

rue

Latin

From Old English hreow, "sorrow or regret" — the herb sense comes from a separate, unrelated Latin word, ruta.

rufescent

Origin

Circa 1820, from Latin rufescens, present participle of rufescere (“to become reddish”), from rufus (“red”).

ruff

Origin

Likely a shortened form of "ruffle," possibly influenced by "rough."

ruffian

French

From French rufian, borrowed from Italian ruffiano, originally meaning "pimp."

ruffle

Middle English

From Middle English ruffelen, of Germanic origin, related to words meaning "to wrinkle" or "to graze."

Rufus

Latin

From Latin "rufus," meaning red or reddish.

Rug

Old Norse

Uncertain; probably of North Germanic origin; perhaps inherited via Middle English *rugge (suggested by Middle English ruggy (“hairy, shaggy, bristly”) and rugged (“hairy, shaggy, rugged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“shagginess, tuft”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwō (“long wool”), probably related to *rūhaz (“rough”), related to English rag and rough. Cognate with dialectal Norwegian rugga (“coarse coverlet”), Swedish rugg (“rough entangled hair”), related to English rag and rough. Compare also Old English rȳhe (“rug, rough covering, blanket”).

rug pull

English

From the English idiom to pull the rug out from under someone, meaning to remove support suddenly and without warning.

rugby

Origin · 1800

Named after Rugby School in Warwickshire, England, where the game is said to have originated in the 19th century.

rugged

Middle English

From Middle English rugged, related to Old Norse words for a rough, shaggy texture.

rugose

Origin

From Latin rūgōsus (“wrinkled”).

rugrat

Origin

From 1964. rug + rat, presumably from crawling on the floor.

ruin

Latin

From Old French ruine, from Latin ruina, "collapse," from ruere, "to fall or rush down."

ruinate

Origin

From the participle stem of Latin ruino.

ruination

Origin

Formed from ruin plus the noun suffix -ation.

ruinous

Origin

From Middle English ruynous, from Old French ruinos, ruineus, from Latin ruīnōsus. By surface analysis, ruin + -ous.

rulable

Origin

From rule + -able.

rule

Latin

From Old French riule/reule, from Latin regula, "straight stick, pattern," related to regere, "to keep straight or direct."

ruler

Middle English

From Middle English reuler, formed from rule plus the agent suffix -er.

ruling

Origin

Formed from rule plus the -ing ending.

rum

Origin · 1600

First recorded around the mid-1600s; the exact origin is debated, with theories tracing it to Caribbean slang words like "rumbullion."

rumba

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish rumba.

rumble

Middle English

From Middle English rumblen, of imitative (sound-mimicking) origin, related to Dutch and German words for a similar low noise.

rumbullion

Origin

Uncertain. The forms rhum and rumbustion appear around the same time.

rumbustion

Origin

Uncertain. The forms rhum and rumbullion appear around the same time.

Rumi

Latin

From Malay Rumi, ultimately from Persian rumi ("Roman"), reflecting its origin as a Roman/Latin-based script.

ruminate

Origin

First attested in 1533; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, perfect active participle of rūminor (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), itself of uncertain origin.

rumination

Latin

From Latin ruminari "to chew the cud, turn over in the mind", from rumen "throat, gullet".

rummage

Old French

From Old French arrumage, "the arranging of cargo in a ship's hold," originally a nautical term for stowing goods.

rummery

Origin

From rum + -ery.

rummy

Origin

Origin uncertain, possibly linked to poker slang or the word "rum" in its old sense of "odd" or "fine."

rumor

Latin

From Old French rumeur, from Latin rumor, "common talk or noise."

rumour

Latin

From Old French rumeur, from Latin rumor, "common talk."

rump

Old Norse · 1648

From Old Norse rumpr, "rump," related to Middle Low German words for the trunk or bulk of a body; the political sense comes from England's Rump Parliament of 1648.

Rumpelstiltskin

German

From German Rumpelstilzchen; the exact origin of the name is debated, but "rumpel" evokes a rattling, clattering goblin.

rumple

Middle English

From Middle English rimplen, "to become wrinkled" — related to German rumpeln ("to rumble, clatter").

rumpus

Latin · 1745

Origin unknown; first recorded around 1745, possibly an invented word blending "rumbustious" with a Latin-style ending.

rumpy

Origin

From rump + -y.

rumspringa

Origin

Borrowed from Pennsylvania German rumspringe (“to jump around”). Compare German rumspringen.

run

Old English

From Old English rinnan and iernan, both meaning "to run," which merged over time into one word.

runabout

Origin

Formed from the verb phrase "run about" — something used for getting around locally.

runaround

Origin

Formed from the verb phrase "run around", in the sense of leading someone in circles.

runaway

Origin

Formed from the verb phrase "run away".

rundown

Origin

Formed from the verb phrase "run down".