"R" Word Origins

From Middle English rotelen, ratelen (“to make a rattling sound while breathing, flap”), from Middle Dutch rotelen (“to rattle, wheeze, drone”) or Middle Low German rōtelen, rātelen, rūtelen (“to groan, gasp, rattle”), from Old Saxon hrot, hrod (“snot, mucus”), from Proto-West Germanic *hroþ (“saliva, mucus, snot”), probably ultimately of imitative origin. Cognate with Dutch reutelen (“to rattle”), German Rotz (“snot”).

From the Rwanda-Rundi phrase "u Rwanda," ultimately linked to a verb meaning "to expand."

An abbreviation of Latin recipe, 'take', the traditional opening word of a prescription instructing the pharmacist to take the listed ingredients. The stroke across the R's leg is a scribal abbreviation mark.

From the Irish surname Ó Riain, "descendant of Rian," later adopted widely as a first name from the 1970s onward.

From Dutch rijder, "rider," an occupational surname for someone who rode horses professionally.

Inherited from Middle English rye, rie, from Old English ryġe, from Proto-West Germanic *rugi, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz. Germanic cognates include Dutch and West Frisian rogge, Low German Rogg, German Roggen, Rocken, Old Norse rugr (Danish rug, Swedish råg); non-Germanic cognates include Russian рожь (rožʹ) and Latvian rudzi.

From Old English ryge (“rye”) + land (“land”).

From the Japanese character 呂 (ryo).

From Japanese 流 (ryū), an affix denoting a school or style, especially of a martial art.