"R" Word Origins

rarefaction

Origin

From Middle French raréfaction. By surface analysis, rarefy + -faction.

raresome

Origin

From rare + -some.

raring

Origin

From an old sense of "rare" meaning "to rear up" — like a horse eager to charge forward.

rarity

Middle French

From rare + -ity, borrowed from Middle French rarité, from Latin rāritās; compare French rareté. See also rare.

ras

Origin

From Amharic ras, literally "head" — the same word used for the body part, extended to mean a headland of land or a "head" of state.

rasa

Sanskrit

A direct borrowing of Sanskrit rasa, literally "juice" or "essence" — the sense extended from a plant's extractable essence to the emotional "essence" a performance leaves with its audience.

rascal

Old French

From Old French rascaille, "rabble" or "outcasts" — possibly connected to a word meaning "scrapings" or "dregs."

rase

Origin

From Late Middle English rasen, rasyn (“to rage; to enrage (?)”), probably from Middle Dutch râsen, râzen (“to be extremely angry, rage; to be mad, rave; to talk nonsense; of a dog: to be rabid”), from Old Dutch *rāson (modern Dutch razen), from Proto-West Germanic *rāsōn (“to rush”), Proto-Germanic *rēsōną (“to rush”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁s- (“to flow; to rush”). cognates * Swedish rasa (“rage”)

rash

Old English

Possibly from Old English *ræsc, related to words meaning "to move quickly or flash" — connected to the idea of acting suddenly.

rasher

Origin

Unknown origin. Said to be an alteration of rasure.

Rashid

Arabic

From Arabic rašīd, meaning "rightly guided" or "wise."

rashly

Origin

From rash + -ly.

Rashmi

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit रश्मि (raśmi).

Rasmussen

Origin

From Danish and Norwegian Rasmussen.

rasp

Old French

From Old French rasper, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "to scrape."

raspberry

Origin

Possibly from an old word "raspise," referring to a sweet rose-colored wine, though the exact origin is uncertain.

Rasputin

Russian · 1869

From Grigori Rasputin (1869-1916), the Russian mystic who gained significant influence over the last Tsarist court; his name became a byword for a shadowy, unelected advisor.

Rasta

Origin

A shortening of "Rastafari," the movement's name.

rat

Old English

From Old English ræt, of uncertain deeper origin, related to similar words across Germanic languages.

rataplan

Origin

From French ran tan plan, onomatopoeic.

ratatouille

French

From French ratatouille, from an Occitan word for the dish, ultimately linked to a word meaning "to stir."

ratchet

French

From French rochet, "bobbin, spindle," ultimately from Italian rocchetto, "spool."

rate

Latin

From Latin ratus, "fixed, calculated" — the same root that gives us "ratio" and "ration."

ratepayer

Origin

From rate + payer.

ratfink

Origin

From rat + fink.

rath

Old Irish

From Old Irish ráth.

rather

Old English

From Old English hraþor, "sooner, more quickly" — the comparative of a word meaning "swift."

rathole

Origin

From rat + hole.

Rathore

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi राठौड़ (rāṭhauṛ).

ratification

Origin

From Middle French ratification, from Medieval Latin ratificatio.

ratio

Latin

From Latin ratio, "reckoning, calculation" — the same root as "ration" and "reason."

ratiocination

Origin

Borrowed from French ratiocination, from Latin ratiōcinātiō (“argumentation, reasoning, ratiocination; a syllogism”), from ratiōcinātus (“reckoned”) + -tiō (suffix forming a noun relating to some action or the result of an action). Ratiōcinātus is the perfect passive participle of ratiōcinor (“to compute, reckon; to argue, infer”), from ratiō (“reason, explanation”) (from reor (“to calculate, reckon”), possibly from Proto-Italic *rēōr, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to put in order”)) + -cinor, modelled after vāticinor (“to foretell, prophesy”), equivalent to ratiocinate + -ion.

ration

Latin

From French ration, ultimately from the same Latin root as "ratio" and "reason."

rational

Latin

From Latin rationalis, "of reason," from ratio, "reason, calculation."

rationale

Late Latin

From Late Latin rationale, related to "rational" and ultimately to Latin ratio, "reason."

rationalise

Origin

From French rationaliser. By surface analysis, rational + -ise.

rationality

Latin

From "rational" plus the suffix "-ity," ultimately from Latin ratio, "reason."

rationalization

Origin

First attested in 1831. From French rationalisation, equivalent to rational + -ization or rationalize + -ation.

rationalize

French

From French rationaliser, built from rational plus the verb-forming suffix -ize.

rationalness

Origin

From rational + -ness.

ratite

Origin

From Latin ratis (“raft”) + -ite; ratites (unlike other birds) lack a keel on their sternum, and rafts are vessels that lack keels.

ratsbane

Origin

From rat's + bane. Compare henbane.

rattan

Origin

Borrowed from Malay rotan.

ratted

Origin

A shortened form of the slang phrase "rat-arsed."

ratter

Origin

From rat + -er.

rattle

Old English

From Middle English ratelen, likely echoing the sound itself (imitative), related to an Old English word for a rustling plant.

rattlesnake

Origin

A compound of rattle and snake, describing the rattling warning sound its tail makes.

rattrap

Origin

From Middle English rat trappe; equivalent to rat + trap.