# An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/R (full text)

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R.
Rabe, masculine, ‘raven,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rabe (rappe), Old High German rabo (*rappo), masculine, also Middle High German raben, Old High German raban, hraban, and Middle High German ram (mm), Old High German ram, hram (with mm for mn), masculine, ‘raven’; all these forms point to Gothic *hrabns. Compare Old Icelandic hrafn, Anglo-Saxon hrœfn, masculine, English raven, Dutch raaf, rave (compare Rappe). The proper names Wolf-ram, Old High German Hraban, and Modern High German Rapp preserve the old variants. Perhaps ​these cognates with Latin corvus, Greek κόραξ, ‘raven,’ Latin cornir, and Greek κορώνη, ‘crow,’ belong to the same root; yet the Teutonic form has a peculiar structure of its own, which, contrary to the usual assumption, presents some difficulties.
Rache, feminine, ‘revenge, vengeance,’ from Middle High German râche, Old High German râhha, feminine; allied to rächen.
Rachen, masculine, ‘throat, jaws, abyss,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rache, Old High German rahho, masculine, for the earlier *hrahho; compare Anglo-Saxon hraca, masculine, ‘throat,’ perhaps also Anglo-Saxon hracca, ‘back of the head, nape,’ English rack, ‘neck of mutton’; also Dutch raak, ‘back part of the palate, inner parts of the month.’ Further references for determining the origin of the word are wanting; no relation to Kragen is possible.
rächen, verb, ‘to revenge, avenge,’ from Middle High German rëcken, Old High German rëhhan, older *wrëhhan, ‘to revenge, obtain satisfaction for some one’; corresponding to Gothic wrikan, ‘to persecute,’ gawrikan, ‘to avenge,’ Anglo-Saxon wrëcan, ‘to drive out, revenge, chastisise’ English to wreak, to which wreak is akin, Dutch wreken, ‘to revenge,’ and wraak, wrake, feminine, ‘revenge,’ Old Saxon wrekan, ‘to chastise.’ The Teutonic root wrek (compare also Rache, Recke, Wrak) with the primary meaning ‘to pursue, or rather expel, especially with the idea of punishment,’ is derived from a pre-Teutonic wreg, werg. It is usually compared with Latin urgeo, ‘I oppress,’ Sanscrit root vṛj, ‘to turn away,’ Greek εἴργω, ‘enemy,’ Lithuanian rárgas, ‘distress’ (vàrgti, ‘to be in want’), which imply an Aryan root werg, wreg.
Racker, masculine, ‘layer, hangman's servant,’ Modern High German only; compare Dutch rakker, ‘beadle, hangman.’ Lessing suggested that it was allied to recken, ‘to put to the rack.’ It is now usually connected with Low German racken, ‘to sweep together,’ and Middle Low German racker, ‘flayer, knacker, nightman.’
Rad, masculine, ‘wheel,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rat (genitive rades), Old High German rad, neuter; corresponding to Low German and Dutch rad (compare also Old Frisian reth). The word is confined to Middle European Teutonic; it is wanting in English, Scandinavian, and Gothic; this, however, is no reason for assuming that the word is borrowed from Latin rota. Since Old High German rad is based on pre-Teutonic rotho-m, rothos, neuter, (Gothic *raþa-), ‘wheel,’ it is primitively cognate with the equivalent Old Irish roth, masculine, and Latin rota, and likewise with Lithuanian rátas, ‘wheel.’ The corresponding Sanscrit ratha-s (rathas, neuter in ráthas-páti) signifies ‘car,’ especially ‘war chariot’ (for the root roth see under rasch), while Sanscrit cakra, Greek κύκλος, corresponding to Anglo-Saxon hweol, English wheel, also means ‘wheel’ in Aryan. —
radebrechen, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German radebrechen, ‘to break on the wheel, mangle,’ akin to Dutch radbraken, ‘to mutilate, mangle, murder a language,’ See Achse, Lünse, Wagen.
Rädelsführer, masculine, ‘ringleader,’ Modern High German only, allied to Bavarian Rädel (diminutive of Rad), ‘small circle of persons, ranks, dancing-song’; as to the evolution of meaning compare English ringleader, allied to ring.
Raden, masculine, ‘cockle-weed,’ from Middle High German râde, usually râte, ratte, râten, ratten, masculine, ‘a weed among corn,’ Old High German râto, ratto, masculine; so too Old Low German râda, feminine, ‘weed.’ In Franconian and Henneberg râdme occurs, in Swiss and Suabian ratte. Perhaps the numerous forms of this simply Middle European Teutonic word point to a primitively German râþwo- (primary form rêtwo-). cognate terms in the non-Teutonic languages have not yet been discovered.
Räder, masculine, also Rädel, ‘sieve,’ allied to Middle High German rëden, Old High German rëdan, ‘to sift, winnow.’ The Teutonic stem is probably hreþ-, hence the word may be related to Lithuanian krétalas, ‘sieve,’ kreczù, ‘to shake’; allied also perhaps to Latin cer-nere, ‘to sift’ (creteus, ‘sifted’).
raffen, verb, ‘to snatch, carry off suddenly,’ from Middle High German raffen, Old High German *raffôn (by chance not recorded), ‘to pluck, pull out, snatch away’; corresponding to Low German and Dutch rapen, ‘to gather hastily.’ English to raff is derived from French raffer, which, like Italian arraffare, is borrowed from High German; on the other hand, English to rap is primitively allied to High German raffen. Middle High German raspôn (for rafspôn), Middle High German raspen, ‘to collect hastily,’ and Italian arrappare, ‘to carry off,’ are also connected with the Teutonic root hrap.
ragen, verb, ‘to project, stand forth,’ from Middle High German ragen (Old High German hragén), ‘to project, become rigid, be prominent’; allied to Middle High German rac, adjective, ‘tense, stiff, astir’; also to Anglo-Saxon oferhragian, ‘to tower above’; see Rahe and regen.
Rahe, feminine, also Raa (under Low German and Dutch influence), ‘yard’ (of a ship), from Middle High German rahe, feminine, ‘pole’; corresponding to Dutch ra, ‘sail-yard,’ Old Icelandic rá, feminine, ‘sail-yard’ (Gothic *răha, feminine, ‘pole’). Rahe is native, both to Upper German and Low German; compare Bavarian raχe, ‘pole.’
​ Rahm, masculine, ‘cream, crust of mould or mildew,’ from the equivalent Middle High German roum, masculine; compare Dutch room, Anglo-Saxon reám (earlier Modern English ream), Old Icelandic rjóme, ‘cream.’ The â of the Modern High German form compared with Old High German *roum (Thuringian roum) is dialectal (compare Middle High German strâm and stroum under Strom). The origin of these cognates has not yet been discovered.
Rahmen, masculine, ‘frame, border,’ from Middle High German ram, rame, masculine and feminine, ‘prop. framework, frame for embroidery or weaving,’ Old High German rama, ‘pillar, prop’; compare Dutch roum, ‘frame.’ Allied probably to Gothic hramjan, ‘to crucify,’ literally ‘to fasten to a pillar or prop’(?) which may, however, be cognate with Greek κρεμάννυμι. Rahmen, properly ‘setting,’ is usually connected with Old Slovenian kroma, feminine, ‘border.’
Raigras, neuter, Modern High German only, from the equivalent English ray-grass, or rather from its phonetic variant rye-grass.
Rain, masculine, ‘strip or belt of grass as a dividing line between fields, ridge,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rein, masculine, ‘ridge’ (as a line of division between fields); corresponding to Low German reen, ‘field boundary,’ Old Icelandic rein, feminine, ‘strip of land.’ Perhaps cognate with Sanscrit rêkhâ, feminine, ‘row, line, strip.’
Ralle, feminine, ‘corncrake,’ Modern High German only, from French râle, whence also English rail.
Ramme, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German (Middle German) ramme, feminine, ‘rammer, pile-driver,’ properly identical with Middle High German ram (genitive rammes), masculine, ‘ram,’ Old High German ram, rammo, masculine, ‘ram’ (compare Bock, Krahn); corresponding to Dutch ram, ‘ram, battering-ram,’ Anglo-Saxon ramm, English ram. No connection with Greek ἀρήν is possible; it is more probably allied to Old Icelandic ramr, rammr, ‘strong, sharp, powerful.’ See the following word.
rammeln, verb, ‘to buck, rut, ram, force in,’ from Middle High German rammeln, Old High German rammalôn, ‘to rut’; akin to Rammler, ‘buck rabbit,’ from Middle High German rammeler, ‘ram during the rutting season.’ A derivative of the cognates discussed under Ramme.
Rampe, feminine, ‘sloping terrace,’ only from, French rampe.
Rand, masculine, ‘rim, border, brink,’ from Middle High German rant (genitive randes), masculine, Old High German rant (genitive rantes), masculine, ‘boss of a shield,’ then ‘rim of a shield,’ and finally ‘rim’ (generally); so too Dutch rand, ‘edge, rim,’ Anglo-Saxon rǫnd, masculine, ‘rim of a shield, shield, rim,’ English rand, Old Icelandic rǫnd (for randô-), ‘shield, rim of a shield.’ Gothic *randa, ‘rim,’ is also implied by Spanish randa, ‘lace on clothes.’ Pre-Teutonic *ram-tâ points to a root rem (Anglo-Saxon rĭma, reoma, ‘rim’), the m of which before d would be necessarily changed to n (see hundert, Sand, Sund, and Schande). From the same primary form is derived the modern dialectic term Ranft for Rand; compare Old High German ramft (with an excrescent f as in Kunft? yet compare the equivalent Old Slovenian rąbŭ and Lithuanian rùmbas), masculine, ‘rim, rind, border,’ Middle High German ranft, masculine, ‘frame, rim, rind.’ Rinde also belongs probably to the same stem.
Rang, masculine, ‘rank, order, row,’ Modern High German only, from French rang (whence also Dutch rang, English rank), which again is derived from German Ring, Old High German ring, hring.
Range, masculine, ‘dissolute youth,’ first occurs in early Modern High German. Allied to ringen.
Rank, plural Ränke, masculine, ‘winding, intrigue, wile,’ from Middle High German ranc (k), masculine, ‘rapid winding or movement’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon wręnč, ‘bend, cunning, plot,’ English wrench. See renken. —
Ranke, feminine, ‘tendril, creeper,’ Modern High German only, from Middle High German ranken, ‘to move to and fro, extend, stretch.’ See renken. —
Rankkorn, neuter, from the equivalent Middle High German rankorn, rankhorn, neuter, ‘quinsy (in pigs)’; allied to Dutch wrong, which is used of the diseases of cows. Whether it belongs, by inference from the Dutch word, to the pre-Teutonic root wrank (see renken), is uncertain.
Ranzen, masculine, ‘belly, knapsack, satchel,’ from Middle High German rans, masculine ‘belly, pauch.’ Compare Dutch ranzel, ‘knapsack.’
ranzen, verb, ‘to speak rudely or harshly to,’ Modern High German only, probably for *rankzen, allied to Middle High German ranken, ‘to bray.’ Scarcely cognate with English to rant.
ranzig, adjective, ‘rancid, fetid,’ Modern High German only, from the equivalent French rance (Latin rancidus), like, or through the medium of, Dutch rans, ‘rotten, rancid.’
Rapp, masculine, ‘grape-stalk,’ from the Middle High German rappe, rape, masculine, borrowed from the equivalent French râpe (compare Italian raspo), whence also the equivalent English rape.
Rappe (1.), masculine, ‘black horse,’ Modern High German only in this sense, which is a figurative use of Middle High German rappe, ‘raven,’ the variant of Middle High German rabe (Alemannian rap, ‘raven’). Old High German *rappo is wanting; it would be related to rabo like *knappo, ‘squire,’ to knabo, ‘boy.’ See Rappen.
Rappe (2.), feminine, ‘malanders,’ from Middle High German rappe, rapfe, feminine, ‘itch, scab’; allied to Dutch rappig, ‘scabby.’ The root is seen in ​Old High German rapfen, ‘to harden (of wounds), form a scab,’ and in râffi. From High German the equivalent French râpes, plural, is formed.
Rappe (3.), feminine, ‘rasp,’ Modern High German only, from the equivalent French râpe, which again corresponds to Old High German raspôn, ‘to sweep off,’ Middle High German raspeln. See raffen, Rapp, and Raspe.
rappeln, verb, ‘to rattle,’ Modern High German only, from Low German; the correct Middle High German form is raffeln, ‘to bluster, clatter’; allied to English to rap, Middle English rappien. — In the sense of ‘to be crack-brained, rave,’ rappeln may be derived from the meaning ‘to bustle’; it is usually connected, however, with Middle High German (Middle German) rëben, ‘to dream, be confused,’ which is derived from French rêver, whence also English to rave.
Rappen, masculine, ‘centime,’ from Middle High German rappe, masculine, ‘the name of a coin first made in Freiburg in Baden, and stamped with the head of a raven, the Freiburg coat of arms.’ See berappen and Rappe (1).
Rappier, masculine and neuter, first occurs in early Modern High German, from French rapier, whence also the The French equivalent English rapier and Dutch rapier. The French word is generally regarded as Teutonic and derived from râpe. See Rappe (3).
Rappuse, feminine, ‘common prey, scramble,’ from late Middle High German rabusch, masculine, ‘tally,’ which is again derived from the equivalent Bohemian rabuše.
Raps, masculine, ‘rape-seed,’ Modern High German only, from Latin rapicium. See Rübe.
rapsen, verb, ‘to sweep off,’ intensive of raffen. Low German rapen.
Rapunzel, masculine, ‘rampion, corn-salad,’ Modern High German only, not from Latin rapunculus, but rather an extended form from Middle Latin rapunciun (French raiponce, compare Dutch rapunsje), whence also Italian ramponzolo; compare further English rampion. Allied to Latin rapa (see Rübe).
rar, adjective, Modern High German only, from French rare (Latin rarus), whence also Dutch raar, English rare.
Rasch, masculine, ‘arras, serge,’ Modern High German only, from the equivalent Dutch ras (English arras). In late Middle High German arraȥ, arras, ‘light woollen fabric, serge,’ which was named from Arras, a town in the north of France.
rasch, adjective, ‘impetuous, speedy, swift, rash,’ from Middle High German rasch, Old High German rasc, adjective, ‘quick, prompt, skilful, powerful,’ of which the equivalent variants Middle High German and Old High German rosch, and Middle High German resch, risch, occur. Corresponding to English rash, Dutch rasch; Old Icelandic rǫskr (Gothic *rasqs), ‘brave.’ The final dental of the root has disappeared before the suffix sqa, ska (*rasqa- for *rat-sqa); compare Old High German rado, Anglo-Saxon rœde, ‘quick.’ Compare also Old Icelandic horskr, Anglo-Saxon horsc, ‘quick, clever,’ with Anglo-Saxon hrœdlîc, ‘quick.’ The Teutonic root raþ, Aryan rot (roth), in Old High German rado, ‘quick,’ may have meant ‘to hasten’; it appears also in Modern High German Rad.
rascheln, verb, ‘to rustle, rattle,’ Modern High German only, probably a derivative of rasch, like Old High German rascezzen, ‘to sob, emit sparks,’ because of the successive short and lively movements. Compare Anglo-Saxon rœscetung, ‘sparkling.’
Rasen, masculine, from the equivalent late Middle High German rase, masculine, ‘turf, sward’; compare Middle Low German wrase, Low German frasen. The word is wanting in the other dialects (Gothic *wrasa may perhaps be assumed); in Upper German Wasen, which is primitively cognate with the primary form wrasa.
rasen, verb, ‘to rave, rage,’ from Middle High German rasen (rare), ‘to storm, rave’; corresponding to Low German rasen, Dutch razen. It is usually thought that the word was borrowed from Low German, since it is not found in High German till the end of the 13th century. Allied to Anglo-Saxon râsettan, ‘to rave,’ rœ̂san, ‘to make a violent attack,’ rœs, ‘attack, charge’ (compare English race), Old Icelandic rás, ‘race, running,’ and rasa, ‘to rush headlong.’
Raspe, feminine, ‘rasp,’ Modern High German only, from French raspe (now râpe), hence properly identical with Rappe (3).
Raspel, feminine, ‘large rough file, rasp,’ Modern High German only, a derivative of the preceding; compare English rasp, rasper. As to the ultimate connection of the cognates with Old High German raspôn, ‘to scrape together,’ compare Rappe (3).
Rasse, feminine, ‘race, breed,’ borrowed in the 18th century from French race, which is recorded as early as the 16th century, at which period the English word race was also borrowed; the French term and its Romance cognates (Italian razza is met with even in the 14th century) are derived from Old High German reitza, reiȥȥa, feminine, ‘line.’
rasseln, verb, ‘to rattle, clatter,’ from Middle High German raȥȥeln (from raȥȥen), ‘to bluster, rave,’ but based in meaning on Low German rateln, ‘to clatter’; compare Middle High German ratzen, ‘to rattle,’ Dutch rateln, ‘to clatter, chatter,’ ratel, ‘rattle, clapper,’ Anglo-Saxon hrœtele, English rattle. The Teutonic root hrat appearing in these words is connected with Greek κραδαίνω, ‘I swing.’
Rast, feminine, ‘rest, repose,’ from Middle High German rast, raste, feminine, Old High German rasta, feminine, ‘repose, rest, permanence,’ also in Old High German and Middle High German ​‘stage of a journey,’ which is the only sense borne by Gothic rasta and Old Icelandic rǫst. Compare Anglo-Saxon rœst, English rest, Old Saxon rasta, ręsta, ‘couch, deathbed,’ Dutch rust (see Rüste), ‘rest, repose.’ The common Teutonic word is based on a root ras, ‘to remain, dwell,’ which may also be inferred from Gothic razn and Old Icelandic rann, ‘house.’ Rast, in the sense of ‘stage,’ comes from the period when the Western Aryans were migrating to Europe; only a wandering tribe could adopt the intervals of reposing and encamping as a measure of distances. Moreover, the older language preserves a few other words as relics of the migratory period; compare Middle High German tageweide, feminine, ‘day's journey, the distance traversed in a day’ (properly said of nomadic marches, ‘the length of pasture grazed by cattle in one day’); see Hanf. Whether the assumed root ras, ‘to remain, dwell,’ is connected with the root rô in Ruhe is doubtful.
Rat, masculine, ‘counsel, advice, deliberation, council,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rât (genitive râtes), masculine, ‘counsel, means at hand, store of provisions’; these meanings are still partly preserved by Modern High German Gerät, Vorrat, Hausrat, Unrat. A verbal abstract of Modern High German raten, Middle High German râten, Old High German râtan, ‘to advise’; compare the equivalent Gothic rêdan, Old Icelandic râða, Anglo-Saxon rœ̂dan (to which English to read is akin?), Old Saxon râdan. Some etymologists have connected the common Teutonic rêdan, ‘to advise,’ with Latin reor, ‘to suppose’; in that case the dental of the Teutonic verb is properly only part of the present stem, which was afterwards joined to the root. Others with equal reason have referred to the Sanscrit root râdh, ‘to carry out a project, put to rights, obtain; to appease,’ and to Sanscrit raditi, ‘to feel solicitous, trouble oneself about.’ —
ratschlagen, verb, ‘to deliberate,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German râtslagen, the origin of which is obscure. See Rätsel.
Ratsche, feminine, ‘rattle, clapper,’ Modern High German only, allied to Middle High German ratzen, ‘to clatter’; see rasseln.
Rätsel, neuter, ‘riddle, perplexity,’ from the equivalent Middle High German râtsal, rœtsel, neuter, Old High German *râtisal, neuter; compare Old Low German râdisli, Middle Low German rêdelse, Dutch raadsel, Anglo-Saxon rœ̂dels (for *rœ̂desl), masculine, whence the equivalent English riddle, the s of the Anglo-Saxon word being regarded as a sign of the plural. The formation of the substantive from raten corresponds to that of Mühsal from mühen, of Labsal from laben, and of Trübsal from trüben. The notion ‘riddle’ was current among the Teutons from early times; the Gothic term was frisahts; in Old High German we find tuncal, neuter, and râtussa, râtissa, feminine ‘riddle.’
Ratte, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German ratte, rate, feminine, rat, rate, masculine, Old High German rato, masculine, ratta, feminine, ‘rat’ (in Middle High German there also appears another variant ratz, ratze, masculine, whence Bavarian and Swiss Ratze). It corresponds to Old Low German ratta, feminine, Dutch rat, rot, masculine, Anglo-Saxon rœtt (?), English rat, Danish rotte. Besides these are found the Romance words French rat, Italian ratto, and also Gaelic radan. The origin of all these cognates is unknown. The Romance class has been derived from Latin raptus, rapidus; in that case Italian ratto, ‘quick, nimble,’ would be the primary meaning. The phonetic relations of the Teutonic words are not sufficiently clear to pronounce a decided opinion (compare Katze).
Raub, masculine, ‘robbery, spoil,’ from the equivalent Middle High German roup (genitive roubes), masculine, Old High German roub, masculine; compare Old Saxon rôf in nôdrôf. ‘violent wresting,’ Dutch roof, masculine, ‘robbery,’ Anglo-Saxon reáf, neuter, ‘robbery, booty,’ allied to Anglo-Saxon reófan, ‘to break, rend,’ Old Icelandic rjúfa, strong verb, ‘to break, rend’ (especially used of a breach of contract); these are further connected with Latin rumpo (Aryan root rup); compare the Sanscrit root lup, ‘to shatter.’ Hence Raub seems to mean literally ‘breach of contract.’? —
rauben, verb, ‘to rob, plunder,’ from Middle High German rouben, Old High German roubôn; Old Saxon rôbôn, Anglo-Saxon reáfian, whence English to reave (the Anglo-Saxon substantive reáf has become obsolete in English), Gothic biraubôn, ‘to plunder, despoil.’ The Teutonic cognates passed with two distinct meanings into Romance; compare on the one hand Italian ruba, ‘robbery,’ rubare, ‘to rob,’ French dérober, ‘to steal,’ and on the other Italian roba, ‘coat, dress,’ French robe. The latter are connected with Raub, since by inference from Old High German roub and Anglo-Saxon reáf, ‘robbery, booty, armour, dress,’ the Old Teutonic word had probably acquired the meanings of ‘garments got by plundering, dress (generally).’ See also raufen.
Rauch, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German rouch, Old High German rauh (hh), masculine, ‘smoke, steam’; corresponding to Old Saxon rôk, masculine, Dutch rook, Anglo-Saxon rêc (from Gothic *rauki), masculine, English reek, Old Icelandic reykr, masculine, ‘smoke’; Gothic *rauks (rauki-) is by chance not recorded. The common Teutonic is connected by gradation with the Teutonic root rū̆k, ‘to smoke,’ See riechen.
rauch, adjective, ‘rough, hairy’; equivalent to ​rauh; Rauchwerk, ‘furs, skins’ (Middle High German rûchwërc) contains Modern High German rauh, ‘hairy, covered with hair’; Rauchhandel (Modern High German only), ‘trade in furs, furred skins.’
Räude, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German riude, rûde, feminine, Old High German rûda, feminine, ‘scab, mange, scabies,’ for an earlier *hrûda, since it is allied to Old Icelandic hruðr, masculine, ‘scab of a wound’; compare Dutch ruit, ‘scab, itch.’ —
räudig, ‘scabby, mangy,’ from Middle High German riudec, Old High German riudig, older rûdîg, ‘scabiosus.’ Perhaps Old High German rû-da (from the Teutonic root hrû) is connected with Latin cruor, ‘gore,’ crû-dus, ‘bloody, raw,’ to which Anglo-Saxon hrûm, ‘soot,’ is probably akin.
raufen, verb, ‘to pluck, pull out,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German roufen (Middle High German also röufen); corresponding to Gothic raupjan, ‘to tear out, pluck off.’ A Teutonic root raup (see rupfen) has not yet been found elsewhere; it is, however, probably connected with the Aryan root rup, ‘to break’ (see Raub). —
Raufe, feminine, ‘rack’ (for fodder), from late Middle High German roufe, feminine; derived from raufen, just as Middle Low German roepe from roepen; but in what way is it connected with Dutch ruif, ‘rack,’ ruiffel, ‘wrinkle’?
Raugraf, masculine, ‘Raugrave,’ from Middle High German rû-grâve, masculine a title like Middle High German wilt-grâve; properly perhaps ‘Count in a rough or uncultivated country’; from rauh.
rauh, adjective, ‘rough, harsh, coarse,’ from Middle High German rûch (inflected rûher), Old High German rûh (inflected rûhêr), adjective, ‘rongh, shaggy, bristly’; compare Middle Dutch ruch, Modern Dutch ruig, ruw, ‘rough,’ Anglo-Saxon rûh, English rough. Gothic *rûhs, rûhws, are wanting. Perhaps primitively allied to Lithuanian raúkas, ‘wrinkle,’ rùkti, ‘to become wrinkled.’ The compound Rauchwerk, ‘furs, skins,’ preserves normally the uninflected form of Middle High German rûch. See rauch.
Rauke, feminine, ‘rocket,’ Modern High German only, from Latin erûca, ‘a sort of colewort,’ whence also Italian ruca, ruchetta, French roquette (English rocket).
Raum, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German rûm (Middle High German rûn), masculine, ‘room, space’; corresponding to Old Saxon, masculine, rûm, masculine, Dutch reim, Anglo-Saxon rûm, masculine, English room, Gothic rûm, neuter, Old Icelandic rûm, neuter, ‘room, open space, bed, seat.’ The common Teutonic substantive originated in the adjective rûma-, ‘spacious’; compare Gothic rûms, Middle High German rûm and gerûm, Modern High German geraum, Dutch ruim, Anglo-Saxon rûm, ‘spacious.’ The root is usually considered to be rû, and the class connected with Latin rû-s (genitive rû-ris), ‘country,’ and Zend ravaṅh, ‘space, distance.’
raumen, see anberaumen.
raunen, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German rûnen, Old High German rûnên, ‘to whisper, to utter in a low, soft tone,’ allied to Middle High German rûne, feminine, ‘whisper, secret conference.’ Corresponding to Old Low German rûnôn, Anglo-Saxon rûnian, English to roun (round), also Anglo-Saxon rûn, feminine, ‘secret deliberation, secret,’ Gothic rûna, feminine (see Alraune), ‘secret, secret resolution’; Old Icelandic rún, feminine, ‘secret, rune.’ It has also been compared further with the cognates, Greek ἐρευνάω, ‘to search, track,’ as well as with Irish rún, ‘secret.’
Modern High German Rune, feminine (Anglo-Saxon rûnstafas, ‘secret characters, runes’), was introduced from the Scandinavian dialects by the literary movement for the promotion of Teutonic studies in the last century.
Raupe (1.), feminine, ‘caterpillar,’ from Middle High German rûpe, rûppe, Old High German rûpa, rûppa, feminine, ‘larvæ of insects, caterpillar.’ In Suabian and Bavarian (partly also in Swiss) the word is wanting, the term used being Graswurm, in Old High German grasawurm (yet in Suabian ruopen, ‘to clear the trees of caterpillars,’ with an abnormal ů for û); in Swiss roup, which probably originated in the written language (in Henneberg abnormally roppe).
Raupe (2.) in Aalraupe is an entirely different word; see the latter.
Rausch (1.), masculine, ‘cranberry,’ from Middle High German rûsch, rusch, feminine, ‘rush,’ from Latin ruscum, whence also Dutch rusch, masculine, ‘rush,’ Anglo-Saxon rŷsče, feminine, English rush; see Risch and Rusch.
Rausch (2.), masculine, ‘carouse, rush, roar,’ Modern High German only (corresponding in Middle High German to rûsch, masculine, ‘onset, attack’; see rauschen); its relation to Low German roes, ‘intoxication,’ English rouse, Old Icelandic rúss, ‘drunkenness,’ is still obscure. The Modern High German word has certainly been borrowed.
rauschen, verb, ‘to rustle, roar, be excited,’ from Middle High German rûschen (riuschen), ‘rustle, roar, swell, hurry along’; corresponding to Dutch ruischen, ‘to rustle,’ English to rush (Middle English ruschen).
Rauschgelb, neuter, ‘red sulphuret of arsenic,’ first occurs in early Modern High German, corresponding to Dutch rusgeel; earlier Modern High German also Ruß-, Roßgelb; allied to Romance and Latin russus (Italian rosso), ‘red.’
räuspern, verb, ‘to hawk, clear the throat,’ from the equivalent Middle High German riuspern (riustern). This verb, which is not recorded prior to Middle High German, belongs to a root frequently occurring in Teutonic, rū̆k (Aryan ​rū̆g), ‘to belch, eructate,’ the k disappearing before the suffix sp, st; compare Anglo-Saxon roccettan, ‘to belch,’ Old High German itarucchen, Middle High German itrücken, Anglo-Saxon edorcan (eodorcan), ‘to chew the cud.’ Compare Latin ê-rûgere, ‘to spit out,’ rûminare (for *rûgminare), ‘to chew the cud,’ and ructare, ‘to belch,’ Greek ἐρεύγεν, ‘to spit out,’ ἐρυγή, feminine, ‘vomiting,’ Old Slovenian rygati sę ‘to belch,’ Lithuanian atrūgas, feminine plural, ‘rising of the stomach.’
Raute (1.), feminine, ‘rue,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rûte, Old High German rûta, feminine. This, like the equivalent Dutch ruit, is usually considered to be borrowed from Latin rûta (compare Italian ruta); yet Anglo-Saxon rûde, ‘rue,’ might prove that the German word is cognate with Latin rûta. English rue, from French rue.
Raute (2.), feminine, ‘quadrangle, square,’ from Middle High German rûte, feminine, ‘lozenge in heraldry, pane’ (hence Dutch ruit, ‘square’). As to Old High German *rûta for *hrûta, equivalent to Aryan krûtâ, klrûtâ, see vier.
Rebe, feminine, ‘vine, vine-branch,’ from Middle High German rëbe, Old High German rëba, feminine, Middle High German rëbe, Old High German rëbo, masculine, ‘vine, tendril, creeper’ (compare Gundelrebe); corresponding words are wanting in the other dialects Old High German has a remarkable form, hirnirëba, ‘skull,’ literally perhaps ‘entwining the brain’; hence with this word is connected the common Teutonic Rippe, as well as Old Slovenian rebro, ‘rib’ (see Rippe). The primary idea of all these terms, and of the Aryan root rebh, deduced from them, is ‘winding, entwining.’ —
Rebhuhn, neuter, ‘partridge,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rëphuon, Old High German rëba-huon, rëbhuon, neuter; it is not probable that Rebhuhn signifies ‘the fowl that is fond of frequenting vines (Reben).’ Perhaps reba- has here another sense. To assume also, on account of Low German raphon, Swedish rapphöna, ‘partridge’ (Old Icelandic rjúpa, ‘ptarmigan’), that the word is derived from Low German rapp, ‘quick,’ is inadmissible, since the High German term occurs at a very early period. It is most probably connected with the equivalent Russian rjabka (allied to Old Slovenian rębŭ, Russian rjaboj, ‘variegated’).
Rebus, masculine and neuter, a modern term like the equivalent English rebus and French rébus; the source and history of the cognates are unknown. The word is based on Latin rebus, ‘by things,’ since the meaning of a rebus is illustrated by pictorial objects.
Rechen, masculine, ‘rake, rack,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rëche, Old High German rëhkho, masculine; corresponding to Dutch reek, feminine, ‘rake,’ and Old Icelandic reka, feminine, ‘rake’; allied to Middle High German rëchen, Old High German rëhhan, ‘to scrape together,’ Gothic rikan, ‘to heap up, collect,’ also to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch rake, Anglo-Saxon racu, feminine, English rake, with a different gradation. The Teutonic root rak, rëk, from Aryan reg, rog, is compared by some with Greek ‘ὀ-ρέγειν, ‘to stretch out,’ by others, without reason, to Latin legere, ‘to collect.’ See rechnen and recken.
rechnen, verb, ‘to reckon, estimate, deem,’ from Middle High German rëchennen, Old High German rëhhanôn, ‘to count, reckon, render an account’ (ë is proved by modern dialects). The assumed Gothic *rikanôn, which is also implied by Anglo-Saxon rëconian, English to reckon, and likewise the equivalent Low German and Dutch rekenen, is abnormally represented by the strange word rahnjan. The West Teutonic *rëkanôn is connected, probably in the sense of ‘to compute, collect’ (compare the meanings of lesen), with the root rak, ‘to collect’ (see Rechen), to which Anglo-Saxon ręččan (from rakjan), ‘to count up, compute, arrange,’ and Anglo-Saxon racu, Old Saxon raka, Old Icelandic rahha, feminine, ‘speech, account, affair,’ also belong; so too geruhen.
recht, adjective, ‘right, just,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rëht, adjective, ‘straight, right, just, correct’; common Teutonic rehta-, with equivalent meaning in all the dialects, Gothic raihts, Old Icelandic réttr, Anglo-Saxon riht, English right, Dutch regt, Old Saxon reht. Latin rectus, Zend. rā̆́šta, ‘straight, right, correct,’ are also primitively allied. This adjective, which has a participle ending to-, is usually considered to be originally a participle of the root rē̆́g, ‘to direct,’ in Latin regere; with this is also connected Sanscrit rjú, ‘straight, correct, just,’ superlat. rájišṭha, whereby the Aryan root rē̆́g is authenticated. — In the sense of ‘to or on the right’ (the antithesis of links, ‘to or on the left’), the adjective rarely occurs in Middle High German, since in the earlier period an adjective primitively allied to Latin dexter was used (compare Gothic taíhswa-, Old High German zëso, Middle High German zëse, ‘to or on the right’). —
rechtfertigen, verb, ‘to justify, vindicate,’ from Middle High German rëht-vertigen, ‘to put into a right state, mend, justify.’ Allied to Middle High German rëhtvęrtîc, ‘just, upright.’
Reck, neuter, ‘wooden frame, rack,’ Modern High German only, properly a Low German word. Compare Low German and Dutch rek, ‘pole, clothes-horse.’ Allied to recken.
Recke, masculine, ‘hero, champion, paladin,’ from Middle High German ręcke, masculine, ‘warrior, hero,’ originally, however, ‘knight-errant, adventurer, stranger’; compare Old High German ręccho, earlier wręccho, masculine, Old Saxon wrękkio, masculine, ‘vagrant, outlaw, stranger,’ Anglo-Saxon wręčča, ‘fugitive, ​exile, unfortunate wretch,’ whence English wretch. These interesting West Teutonic cognates implying Gothic *wrakja are connected with Modern High German rächen, Gothic wrikan, ‘to persecute.’ Modern High German elend has a somewhat similar development.
recken, verb, ‘to stretch, rack, reach forth,’ from Middle High German ręcken, Old High German ręcchen, ‘to stretch out, extend,’ corresponding to Dutch rekken, ‘to stretch out,’ whence English to rack is borrowed, Gothic uf-rakjan, ‘to stretch out,’ to which Gothic rahtôn, ‘to proffer.’ From Teutonic is derived Italian recare, ‘to bring.’ The assumed direct connection between the common Teutonic verb and Gothic rikan, ‘to collect,’ literally ‘to scrape together,’ must on account of the meaning be abandoned in favour of its relation to Lithuanian rążau, rążyti, ‘to stretch,’ Latin por-rigo, ‘I stretch,’ and Greek ὀρέγειν, ‘to stretch.’
Rede, feminine, ‘speech, discourse, oration,’ from Middle High German ręde, Old High German rędia, ręda, feminine, ‘account, speech and reply, speech, narrative, information’; corresponding to Old Saxon ręðia, feminine, ‘account,’ Gothic raþjô, feminine, ‘account, bill, number’; to this is allied Gothic garaþjan, ‘to count,’ and further the phonetic equivalent Latin ratio, ‘computation, account, number,’ &c. From the same Teutonic root raþ (pre-Teutonic rat), signifying ‘number,’ hund-ert (which see) is derived. —
reden, verb, ‘to speak, talk, converse,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ręden, Old High German rędiôn, rędôn, also Old High German rędinôn, just as in the case of Old High German rędia the equivalent variant rędina occurs (compare Old Saxon ręðion, ‘to speak’); from this Old High German rędinôn, is derived Old High German rędinâri, Middle High German rędenœre, Modern High German Redner, ‘orator.’
redlich, adjective, ‘honest, candid,’ from Middle High German rędelîch, ‘eloquent, intelligent, upright, sturdy,’ Old High German rędilîh, ‘intelligent’; allied to Old High German rędia, Middle High German ręde, ‘understanding, account.’ See Rede.
Reff (1.), neuter, ‘dosser, framework of staves for carrying on the back,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rëf, neuter, Old High German rëf, neuter, for earlier Gothic *hrip; compare Old Icelandic hrip, neuter, ‘wooden frame for carrying coals or peat,’ Middle English and English rip, ‘fish-basket.’ To the assumption that the word is primitively akin to Latin corbis, ‘basket,’ there is no phonetic objection (see Korb and Krebe), yet the Alemannian variants seem to imply a Teutonic primary form *hrëfo-.
Reff (2.), neuter, also Reef, neuter, ‘reef,’ Modern High German only, a nautical term borrowed from Low German; compare Dutch and English reef, also Dutch reven, ‘to reef a sail.’ It is noteworthy that in Old Icelandic rif, ‘rib,’ is used in the same sense. Old Icelandic rifa, ‘to tack together,’ is probably most closely connected with the cognates.
reffen, verb, ‘to hatchel hemp or flax,’ from Middle High German reffen (a variant of raffen), ‘to tug, pluck.’ The Modern High German sense is probably based on a Low German word. Compare Dutch repel, ‘breaking flax,’ repelen, ‘to break flax,’ English ripple, ‘hatchel.’
rege, adjective, ‘astir, lively, active,’ Modern High German only; see regen.
Regel, feminine, ‘rule, regulation, principle,’ from Middle High German rëgel, rëgele, Old High German rëgula, feminine, ‘rule, especially of an order’; borrowed in this latter sense during the Old High German period when the monastic system was adopted (see Kloster, Münster, Abt, and Mönch), from Latin rëgula, pronounced rĕgula in Middle Latin (Latin ê would be changed into Old High German î, see Feier, Kreide, and Pein). This pronunciation is also implied by Anglo-Saxon rĕgul, masculine, and Old French riule, ‘rule’ (English rule, from Middle English reule, is derived from Old French reule, Latin regula).
Regen, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German rëgen, Old High German rëgan, masculine, ‘rain’; common to Teutonic in the same sense; compare the corresponding Gothic rign, neuter, Old Icelandic regn, neuter, Anglo-Saxon rëgn, masculine, English rain, Dutch regen, Old Saxon rëgan. Primit, Teutonic regna-, from pre-Teutonic *reghno-, probably represents *mreghno-, if the word be connected with Greek βρέχειν (for μρεχ-, μβρεχ-), ‘to wet’; Latin rĭgare, ‘to water, wet,’ may belong to the same Aryan root mregh, The compound Regenbogen is found in all the Teutonic languages; Middle High German rëgenboge, Old High German rëganbogo (Dutch, however, waterboog), English rainbow, from Anglo-Saxon rëgnboga, Old Icelandic regnboge, Gothic *rìgnbuga.
regen, verb, ‘to stir up, move, excite,’ from Middle High German ręgen, ‘to cause to project, set up, excite, move, awaken,’ a factitive of Middle High German rëgen, ‘to rise, tower,’ hence primitively allied to ragen. Akin also to Middle High German rœhe, ‘rigid, stiff.’ The Teutonic root rag, rē̆h, of these cognates has not yet been found in the allied languages. See rege.
Reh, neuter, ‘roe, deer,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rêck (genitive rêhes), Old High German rêf (genitive rêhes), neuter; the stem raiha- is common to Teutonic; compare Dutch ree, Anglo-Saxon râhdeór, English roe, Old Icelandic rá; Gothic *ráih is by chance not recorded. Allied also to Old High German and Old Low German rêho, masculine (like Anglo-Saxon râ, masculine, from *râha), ‘roe,’ and reia (Anglo-Saxon rœ̂ge). feminine, ‘caprea’; for another feminine form see Ricke. Teutonic raiha- from ​raiko- can scarcely be related to Sanscrit ṛçya, ‘buck of a species of antelopes.’ See further Hahnrei.
reiben, verb, ‘to rub, scratch, scour,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rîben, Old High German rîban, for an older *wrîban, whence French riper, ‘to scrape’; compare Low German wrîven, Dutch wrijven, ‘to rub.’ The Teutonic root wrī̆b has not yet been found in the other Aryan languages.
Reich, neuter, ‘empire, realm, kingdom,’ from Middle High German rîche, neuter, Old High German rîhhi, neuter, ‘country under sovereign sway, kingdom, Roman-German emperor, authority, dominion’; corresponding to Gothic reiki, neuter, ‘realm, dominion, power, authority,’ Anglo-Saxon rîče, neuter, ‘realm, dominion, reign,’ Old Saxon rîki, neuter, ‘realm, dominion, authority.’ A derivative with the suffix ja from Teutonic *rîk-, which has been preserved only in Gothic as reiks, ‘ruler, chief’ (yet also in proper names like Friedrich and Heinrich). The rare Old High German strong verb rîhhan, ‘to reign over, take possession of, be mighty,’ is properly a derivative of *rîk-, ‘ruler,’ which again is a pre-Teutonic loan-word from the equivalent Keltic rîg (for another word, probably borrowed from Keltic at the same period, see under Amt). The latter is primitively allied to Latin rêg-em, Sanscrit râjan, ‘king’ (Aryan rég- would be originally akin to Teutonic rêk, râk), which are connected with the Aryan root rē̆́g, ‘to direct’ (see recht). See the following word.
reich, adjective, ‘rich, copious, abounding,’ from Middle High German rîhhi, Old High German rîhhi, adjective, ‘mighty, rich, splendid’; corresponding to Old Saxon rîki, ‘mighty, powerful,’ Anglo-Saxon rîce, ‘mighty, powerful,’ English rich, Gothic reiks, ‘mighty, distinguished.’ From the German adjective the equivalent Romance cognates are derived; compare Italian ricco, French riche, ‘rich.’ The comon Teutonic adjective is a derivative of the root *rîk, ‘king,’ discussed under the preceding word, hence ‘mighty’ is the earlier meaning of the cognates; ‘royal’ (Latin régius) is the original sense.
reichen, verb, ‘to reach, extend, suffice,’ from Middle High German ‘to arrive at, attain, proffer. suffice, extend,’ Old High German reihhen, ‘to proffer, extend’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon rœ̂čan (from *raikjan), and the equivalent English to reach. Its connection with Gothic rakjan, ‘to reach,’ rahtôn, ‘to proffer,’ is not probable, for phonetic reasons; and on account of its meaning, the word can scarcely be related to the cognates of *rîk, ‘ruler,’ mentioned under Reich.
Reif (1.), masculine, ‘encircling band, hoop, ring,’ from Middle High German and Old High German reif, masculine, ‘rope, cord, coiled rope, hoop, band, fetter, circle’; corresponding to Dutch reep, ‘hoop, rope,’ Anglo-Saxon râp, neuter, ‘strap, cord, rope,’ English rope, Old Icelandic reip, neuter, ‘rope,’ Gothic skaudaraip, ‘shoe-thong,’ Greek ῥαιβός, ‘crooked,’ is probably not allied, and is best compared with Gothic wraiqs, ‘crooked.’
Reif (2.), masculine, ‘rime, hoar-frost,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rîfe, Old High German rîfo, hrîfo, masculine; corresponding to Old Low German hrípo, Dutch rijp, ‘rime, hoar-frost’ (Gothic *hreipa). The other dialects have a similarly sounding form, which is not, however, closely allied phonetically; Old Icelandic hrím, Anglo-Saxon hrîm, neuter, English rime, Dutch rijm, with the same meaning; compare Middle High German rîmeln, ‘to cover with hoar-frost.’ Does hrîm represent Teutonic *hrîpma-, and thus belong to Reif? The comparison of Anglo-Saxon hrîm with Greek κρῦμός, ‘frost,’ is untenable.
reif, adjective, ‘ripe, mature,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rîfe, Old High German rîfi, adjective; corresponding to the equivalent Old Saxon rîpi, Dutch rijp, Anglo-Saxon rîpe, English ripe; a verbal adjective allied to Anglo-Saxon rī̆pan, ‘to reap’ (whence English to reap), signifying ‘that which can be reaped.’ The Teutonic root rîp, with the original sense ‘to cut, reap’ (compare Anglo-Saxon rîfter, ‘sickle’), has not yet been found in the other Aryan languages.
Reigen, see Reihen (1).
Reihe, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German rîke, feminine, ‘row, line,’ allied to Middle High German rîhen, Old High German rîhan, ‘to range, put on a thread, fix,’ to which Middle High German rige, feminine, ‘row, line,’ Old High German rī̆ga, ‘line, circular line,’ and Dutch rij, ‘row,’ are akin. Anglo-Saxon râw, ‘row, line’ (Gothic *raiwa, for *raigwa, allied to *reihwan), whence English row is also probably connected with these. The Teutonic root rī̆hw, raihw, is related to Sanscrit rêkkâ, ‘streak, line’ (Aryan root rikh).
Reihen (1.), Reigen, masculine, ‘chain-dance, roundel, dance and song, frolic,’ from Middle High German reie, reige, masculine, ‘a sort of dance in a long row across the field’; origin obscure. Compare also English ray, ‘a sort of dance,’ the etymology of which is equally obscure.
Reihen (2.), masculine, ‘instep,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rîhe, masculine; Old High German rîho, masculine, ‘calf of the leg, hock.’ An older *wrîho may be assumed, since Modern High German Rist seems to be allied.
reihen, verb, see Reihe.
Reiher, masculine, ‘heron,’ from the equivalent ​Middle High German reiger, masculine; Old High German *reiar, *reijar, are by chance not recorded; compare Old Saxon hreiera, Dutch reiger, Anglo-Saxon hrâgra, masculine, ‘heron.’ Old High German heigir and Middle High German heiger, ‘heron,’ are abnormal forms.
Reim, masculine, ‘rhyme,’ from Middle High German rîm, masculine, ‘verse, line.’ To the assonant Old High German rîm, masculine, this sense is unknown; it signifies ‘row, succession, number,’ and these meanings are attached to the corresponding words in the other Old Teutonic dialects; compare Old Saxon unrîm, ‘innumerable quantity,’ Anglo-Saxon rîm, ‘number.’ From these Old Teutonic words Middle High German rîm, ‘verse,’ must be dissociated, and connected rather with Latin rhythmus (versus rhythmicus). The Modern High German word acquired the sense of French rîme, ‘rhyme,’ in the time of Opitz. In the Middle High German period rîme binden was used for reimen, ‘to rhyme,’ and Gebäude by the Meistersingers for Reim. English rhyme (Middle English rîme, ‘rhymed poem, poem, rhyme’) is also borrowed from Old French rime.
rein, adjective ‘pure, clean, downright,’ from the equivalent Middle High German reine, Old High German reini, older hreini, adjective; corresponding to Gothic hrains, Old Icelandic hreinn, Old Saxon hrêni, North Frisian rian, ‘pure’; in Dutch and English, correspondences are wanting. The Modern High German sense (for which in Bavarian and Swiss sauber is mostly used) is not found in the dialects; e.g., in Rhenish-Franconian and Swiss it signifies only ‘fine ground, sifted’ (of flour, sand, &c.), and belongs therefore to the Teutonic root hrī̆, pre-Teutonic krī̆, krei, ‘to winnow, sift,’ whence Old High German rîtara (see Reiter), Latin cri-brum, Greek κρί-νειν (for the adjective suffix -ni- see klein and schön). Hence ‘sifted’ may be assumed as the original sense of rein; compare Old Low German hrêncurni, ‘wheat.’
Reis (1.), masculine, ‘rice,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rîs, masculine and neuter, which was borrowed from the equivalent Middle Latin and Romance rîso-, masculine and n,; compare Italian riso, French riz (whence also English rice, Dutch rijst); the latter is usually traced to Latin and Greek ὄρῦζον (also ὄρυζα), ‘rice,’ which is derived from Sanscrit vrîhi through an Iran. medium.
Reis (2.), ‘twig, sprout,’ from Middle High German rîs, Old High German rîs, earlier hris, neuter, ‘branch’; corresponding to Dutch rijs, Anglo-Saxon hrîs, Old Icelandic hrîs, masculine, ‘twig, branch’; Gothic *hreis, neuter, is wanting. The Teutonic cognates (Zweig, ‘that which shakes, lives’) accord well with Gothic hrisjan, ‘to shake,’ Old Saxon hrissian, Anglo-Saxon hrissan, ‘to tremble, quake.’ —
Reisig, Reisich, neuter, ‘small twigs, brushwood,’ from Middle High German rîsech, Old High German rîsach, neuter; the collective of Reis (Old Teutonic hrîsa-).
Reise, feminine, ‘journey, travel, voyage,’ from Middle High German reise, feminine, ‘departure, march, journey, military expedition,’ Old High German reisa, feminine, ‘departure’; allied to Old High German rîsan, Middle High German rîsen, ‘to mount, fall,’ Old Saxon rîsan, ‘to rise,’ Anglo-Saxon rîsan, English to rise, and the equivalent Gothic ur-reisan. The idea of vertical, and especially of upward motion, thus belongs every where to the root rī̆s; therefore Reise is literally ‘departure.’ Further, Middle High German and Modern High German reisen is a derivative of the substantive; compare also with the root rī̆s, English to raise and (by the change of s into r) to rear.
Reisige, masculine, ‘trooper, horseman,’ from Middle High German reiec, adjective, ‘mounted.’ —
Reisigen, plural, ‘horsemen,’ usually connected with Middle High German reise, ‘military expedition,’ yet it may be also a derivative of rîten, ‘to ride,’ since Old High German rîso, ‘horseman,’ occurs (rîþtan- gives rîssan-, rîsan-).
reißen, verb, ‘to tear, drag; sketch,’ from Middle High German rîȥen, Old High German rîȥan, earlier *wrîȥan, ‘to tear, tear in pieces, scratch, write’; corresponding to Old Saxon wrftan, ‘to tear in pieces, wound, write,’ Anglo-Saxon wrîtan, English to write, Old Icelandic ríta, ‘to write’; Gothic *wreitan, ‘to rend, write,’ is wanting, but is implied by Gothic writs, ‘streak, point.’ The various meanings of the cognates are explained by the manner in which runes were written or scratched on beech twigs. The Teutonic root writ, which has been preserved also in Modern High German Riß, Ritz, ritzen, and reizen, has not yet been found in the non-Teutonic languages.
reiten, verb, ‘to ride,’ from Middle High German rîten, Old High German rîtan, ‘to move on, set out, drive, ride’; corresponding to Dutch rijden, ‘to ride, drive, skate,’ Anglo-Saxon rîdan, English to ride, Old Icelandic ríða, ‘to ride, travel; swing, hover.’ These words are based on the common Teutonic rîdan, with the general sense of continued motion. This, as well as the fact that in Teutonic there is no verb used exclusively for ‘to ride,’ makes it probable that the art of riding is comparatively recent. Besides, in the allied languages no single term expresses this idea. It is also known that the art among the Greeks appears after the time of Homer, and that it was still unknown to the Indians of the Rig-Veda. It is true that the Teutons are known to us as horsemen from their earliest appearance in history, but the ​evolution of the word reiten (compare Latin equo vehi) proves that the art is of recent origin. The Teutonic verbal stem rī̆d, for pre-Teutonic rī̆dh, reidh, corresponds to Old Irish ríad, ‘driving, riding’ (ríadaim, ‘I drive’), Old Gallic rêda, ‘waggon’ (compare Greek ἔ-ριθος, ‘messenger, servant’?). The general meaning is seen also in Anglo-Saxon râd, feminine, ‘journey, expedition,’ English road, as well as in the cognates under bereit.
Reiter, feminine, ‘coarse sieve, riddle,’ from Middle High German rîter, Old High German rîtara, feminine, ‘sieve,’ for earlier *hrîtara; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon hrîdder, feminine, ‘sieve’ whence English riddle. For the Teutonic root hrî in the sense of ‘to sift, winnow,’ see rein. The Old High German suffix tara, from pre-Teutonic thrâ (Gothic *hrei-dra, feminine), corresponds to -brum for -thrum in Latin cribrum (br from thr, as in ruber, ἐρυθρός), equivalent to Old Irish críathar, ‘sieve’; Aryan kreithro- may be assumed. Modern High German Räder, ‘sieve,’ is not connected with this word.
reizen, verb, ‘to stimulate, excite, charm,’ from Middle High German reitzen, reiȥen, Old High German reizzen, reiȥen, ‘to charm, entice, lead astray’; the form with tz is due to Gothic tj. Apparently a factitive of reißen, hence literally ‘to cause to drag, make one come out of oneself’; compare Old Icelandic reita, ‘to stir up, irritate.’ Compare beizen, heizen.
renken, verb, ‘to twist, wrench,’ from Middle High German ręnken, Old High German ręnchen, ‘to turn this way and that,’ for an earlier *wrankjan (from the stem rank, ‘to dislocate,’ are derived the Romance cognates, Italian ranco, ‘lame,’ rancare, ‘to halt’). Anglo-Saxon wręnč, ‘bend, artifice,’ Anglo-Saxon wręnčan, ‘to turn,’ English wrench, substantive and verb. The corresponding verb is ringen, Teutonic wringan; the k of renken (probably for kk) compared with the g of ringen resembles the variation in bücken and biegen, lecken and Gothic bilaigôn, &c. With the pre-Teutonic root wrenk (wreng) compare Greek ῥέμβω, ‘to turn,’ ῥόμβος, ‘top.’ Compare Rank.
rennen, verb, ‘to run,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rennen, properly ‘to cause to flow, chase, drive,’ especially ‘to make a horse leap, burst,’ hence the reflexive meaning of the Modern High German word; corresponding to Old Saxon rennian, Gothic rannjan, which are factitives of rinnen.
Renntier, neuter, ‘reindeer,’ Modern High German only, from the equivalent Swedish ren, which is derived from Old Icelandic hreinn (Anglo-Saxon hrân), whence also Dutch rendier, English reindeer; from the same source probably are Italian rangifero, French rangier (and renne), ‘reindeer.’ Old Icelandic hreinn is usually considered to be a Finnish and Lappish loan-word (raingo).
Rente, feminine, ‘rent, rental,’ from Middle High German rënte, ‘income, produce, advantage; contrivance.’ Borrowed from French rente, Middle Latin renta, Italian rendita, whence even in Old High German rentôn, ‘to count up.’
Rest, masculine, ‘rest, remnant, remains,’ Modern High German only, from French reste, masculine.
retten, verb, ‘to rescue, save,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rętten, ‘to snatch from, rescue’; compare Dutch redden, Old Frisian hredda, Anglo-Saxon hręddan, ‘to snatch from, set free,’ English to rid; Gothic *hradjan may be assumed. The Teutonic root hrad, from pre-Teutonic krath, corresponds to the Sanscrit root çrath, ‘to let go’ (present çratháyâmi).
Rettich, Rettig, masculine, ‘radish,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rętich, rœtich, Old High German rętih, rā̆tī̆h, masculine; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon rœdič; borrowed from Latin râdîc-em (nominative râdix), which, as the High German guttural indicates, is found with the Teutonic accent prior to the Old High German period. English radish is a later loanword from French radis.
Reue, feminine, ‘repentance, from Middle High German riuwe, feminine, ‘sadness, pain, mourning, repentance,’ Old High German riuwa, earlier hriuwa, feminine; corresponding to Dutch rout, Anglo-Saxon hreów, ‘grief, mourning, repentance.’ Allied to an obsolete Old High German verb hriuwan, Middle High German riuwen, ‘to feel pain, be sorry’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon hreówan, ‘to vex, grieve,’ English to rue, to which ruth is akin; Old Icelandic hryggva, ‘to sadden.’ Gothic *hriggwan wanting. The Teutonic hrū̆, ‘to be sad, sadden,’ has no correspondences in the other Aryan languages.
Reuse, feminine, ‘weir-basket, weel,’ from Middle High German riuse, Old High German rûsa, rûssa, feminine, ‘weel, fish-basket’ (from Gothic *rûsjô); a graded and lengthened form of Gothic raus (see Rohr). Hence Reuse means literally ‘that which is made of reeds.’
reuten, verb, ‘to root out, grub up, from Middle High German riuten, ‘to root out, make fertile’; to this is allied Old High German riuti, Middle High German riute, neuter, ‘land made fertile by uprooting,’ Old Icelandic ryðja, ‘to make fertile.’ Whether Old High German riostar, riostra, Middle High German riester, ‘plough, plough-handle,’ dialectic Riester, is connected with this word is uncertain. See roden.
Reuter, masculine, ‘trooper,’ first occurs in early Modern High German, formed from Dutch ruiter, ‘trooper,’ which has nothing to do with reiten, ‘to ride.’ The word is based rather on Middle Latin ruptarii (for ruptuarii), rutarii (ex Gallica pronuntiatione); thus were ​“dicti quidam praedones sub XI. saeculum ex rusticis collecti ac conflati qui provincias populabantur et interdum militiae principum sese addicebant”: “these people were often on horseback.” Thus Dutch ruiter could easily acquire the meaning ‘horseman’; compare Dutch ruiten, ‘to plunder.’ See Rotte.
Rhabarber, masculine, ‘rhubarb,’ Modern High German only, from Italian rabarbaro, French rhubarbe; also earlier Modern High German Rhapontif, from French rapontique. The word is based on the Middle Latin ra-, reu-ponticum, -barbarum, also radix pontica, -barbara, ‘a plant growing on the banks of the Volga.’
Rhede, feminine, ‘roadstead, road,’ Modern High German only, from Low German; compare Dutch ree, reede, Middle English râde, English road; from the English class are derived the equivalent Italian rada and French rade. Originally sense probably ‘place where ships are equipped’; allied to the Teutonic root raid, ‘to prepare’; compare Old Icelandic reiðe, ‘ship's equipment.’ See bereit.
ribbeln, verb, ‘to rub briskly, scour,’ Modern High German only, intensive of reiben.
richten, verb, ‘to regulate, direct, judge, condemn,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rihten, ‘to set right,’ denominative from recht.
Ricke, feminine, ‘doe,’ by chance not recorded only in Modern High German; Middle High German *riche and Old High German *riccha are wanting, but may be assumed from the archaic form of Modern High German Ricke (Swiss rikχe). In Gothic *rikki, ‘doe,’ would be a derivative feminine form of Reh (raiha-).
riechen, verb, ‘to smell,’ from Middle High German riechen, Old High German riohhan, strong verb, ‘to smoke, steam, emit vapour, smell’; compare Dutch ruiken, rieken, ‘to smell,’ Anglo-Saxon reócan, ‘to smoke, emit vapour,’ Old Icelandic rjúka, ‘to smoke, exhale.’ The Teutonic root rū̆k signified ‘to smoke’; see further under Rauch and Geruch. In the non-Teutonic languages the stem is not found.
Riefe, feminine, ‘furrow in wood, stone, &c.,’ Modern High German only, from Low German; compare Anglo-Saxon geriflian, ‘to wrinkle,’ with which English rifle, literally ‘the fluted weapon,’ and rivel, ‘wrinkle, fold,’ are connected. Old Icelandic rifa, feminine, ‘slit, rift,’ allied to Old Icelandic rífa, ‘to tear to pieces, slit.’
Riege, feminine, ‘row,’ from Middle High German rige, Old High German rī̆ga, feminine, ‘line, row’ (Gothic *riga, feminine, is wanting); allied to Reihe, Old High German rîhan, ‘to form in a row.’ From German are derived Italian riga, ‘line, strip,’ and rigoletto, ‘chain-dance.’
Riegel, masculine, ‘rail, bar, bolt,’ from Middle High German rigel, Old High German rigil, masculine, ‘crossbar for fastening’; corresponding to Middle English and English rail, Dutch and Swedish regel, ‘bolt.’ It is scarcely allied to Old High German rîhan, ‘to form in a row.’
Riemen, masculine, ‘strap, thong, strong,’ from Middle High German rieme, Old High German riomo, masculine, ‘band, girdle, strap’; corresponding to Old Saxon riomo, masculine, Dutch riem, Anglo-Saxon reóma, ‘strap’; Gothic *riuma, masculine, is wanting. Greek ῥῦμα, ‘towing-line, rope,’ is primitively allied, and hence the Aryan root was probably rū̆ (Greek ἐρύω), ‘to draw.’
Ries, neuter, ‘ream,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German ris (riȥ, rist), masculine, feminine and neuter; in Dutch riem, English ream. These late Teutonic cognates are borrowed from Romance; compare the equivalent Middle Latin and Italian risma, French rame. It is true that the Middle High German form still requires further explanation. The ultimate source of Middle Latin and Italian risma is Arabic rizma, ‘bale, bundle,’ especially ‘packing-paper.’
Riese, masculine, ‘giant,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rise, Old High German risi, riso, masculine; compare Old Saxon wrisi-lîc, ‘gigantic,’ Old Low German wrisil, Dutch reus, ‘giant.’ Gothic *wrisi-, or rather *wrisjan-, is wanting. It seems primitively allied to Sanscrit vṛšan, ‘mighty, manly, strong,’ to which Old Irish fairsing, ‘great, powerful,’ is also probably akin.
Riester, masculine,. ‘wrist, instep, patch (on a shoe),’ Modern High German only; probably a primitively word, but of obscure origin. This word, which is unknown to Bavarian, has, according to Swiss riešter, rieštere, masculine and feminine, a genuine diphthong equivalent to Gothic iu; hence Middle High German altriuȥe, riuȥe, ‘cobbler,’ preserved in Modern High German dialects as Altreise, ‘second-hand dealer,’ is perhaps allied.
Rießling, masculine, ‘small white field-grape,’ Modern High German only; perhaps a derivative of Rieß, ‘Rhætia’ (Tyrol), so that Rießling is literally ‘Rhætian’ (wine).
Riet (in the Low German form Nied), neuter, ‘reed,’ from the equivalent Middle High German riet, Old High German riot, earlier hriot, neuter; common to West Teutonic in the same sense; compare Old Saxon hreod, Dutch riet, Anglo-Saxon hreód, English reed. Gothic *hriuda is wanting. Pre-Teutonic *kreudho- is not found in the other groups.
Riff, neuter, ‘reef,’ Modern High German only, from Low German riff, reff; compare the equivalent Dutch rif, neuter, English reef, and Old Icelandic rif. The latter is equivalent in sound to Gothic rif, ‘rib,’ but this is probably only an accident. It has been thought to be allied to Old Icelandic rífa, ‘to slit, split,’ rifa, ‘rift, split’; hence probably Riff means literally ‘the dissevered, cleft, mass of rock,’ then ‘reef.’
​ Riffel, Rüffel, neuter, ‘flax-comb, ripple; censure,’ probably allied to Middle High German riffeln, rifeln, ‘to comb or hatchel flax,’ riffel, ‘mattock,’ Old High German riffila, ‘saw.’ German has similar figurative terms for ‘to find fault with, inveigh against’ (similar to etwas durchecheln, ‘to censure’). Compare reffen.
Rind, neuter, ‘horned cattle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rint (genitive rindes), Old High German rind, earlier hrind, neuter; Gothic *hrinþis, neuter, is wanting; Anglo-Saxon hrŷþer (hrîðer, hrîð-), Middle English rother, Dutch rund, ‘horned cattle,’ imply Gothic *hrunþis, a graded variant allied to Rind, Gothic *hrinþis. Old High German hrind is usually connected, like Hirsch, with the stem ker, ‘horn, horned’ (see Horn), appearing in Greek κέρας, and also with Greek κριός, ‘ram.’ The German word is, however, probably not allied to these words.
Rinde, feminine, ‘rind, crust, bark,’ from Middle High German rinde, Old High German rinta, feminine, ‘rind of trees, crust,’ also (rarely) ‘bread-crust’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon rind, English rind. Its kinship with Rand and Ramst is undoubted; their common root seems to be rem, ram, ‘to cease, end’; compare especially Anglo-Saxon reoma, rima, English rim. Some etymologists connect it with Gothic rimis, ‘repose’; compare Sanscrit ram, ‘to cease, rest.’
Ring, masculine, ‘ring, circle, link,’ from Middle High German rinc (genitive ringes), Old High German ring, earlier hring, masculine. ‘ring, hoop, circular object’; compare Old Saxon hring, Dutch ring, Anglo-Saxon hring, English ring, Old Icelandic hringr, masculine. The common Teutonic word, which implies a casually non-existent Gothic *hriggs, denoted a circle, and everything of a circular form. Pre-Teutonic krengho- appears also in the corresponding Old Slovenian krągŭ, masculine, ‘circle,’ krąglŭ, ‘round.’ From the Teutonic word, which also signifies ‘assembly’ (grouped in a circle), are derived the Romance cognates, Italian aringo, ‘rostrum,’ French harangue, ‘public speech,’ and French rang.
Ringel, masculine, ‘ringlet, curl,’ diminutive of the preceding word; Middle High German ringele, ‘marigold,’ Old High German ringila, feminine, ‘marigold, heliotrope.’
ringen, verb, ‘to encircle; wring, wrestle, strive,’ from Middle High German ringen, ‘to move to and fro, exert oneself, wind,’ Old High German ringan, from an earlier *wringan; compare Dutch wringen, ‘to wring, squeeze,’ Anglo-Saxon wringan, English to wring; Gothic *wriggan is implied by wruggô, ‘snare.’ The root wring, identical with the root wrank (see renken), meant originally ‘to turn in a winding manner, move with effort.’ With this are connected Modern High German Ranke, English wrong, Middle English wrang, ‘bent, perverted, wrong’ (Old Icelandic rangr, ‘bent, wrong,’ Modern Dutch wrang, ‘sour, bitter’), and English to wrangle. Perhaps würgen (root wrg) is allied; English to ring is, however, not connected, since it comes from Anglo-Saxon hringan.
Rinken, ‘large ring, buckle,’ an Upper German word, from Middle High German rinke, masculine and feminine, ‘buckle, clasp,’ whence Middle High German rinkel, ‘small buckle’; an old derivative of Ring (Old High German rinka, from the primitive form *hringjôn).
Rinne, feminine, ‘channel, gutter, groove,’ from Middle High German rinne, feminine, Old High German rinna, feminine, ‘watercourse,’ Middle High German also ‘gutter, eavestrough.’ Compare Gothic rinnô, feminine, ‘brook,’ and Anglo-Saxon rynele, English rindle. Connected with the following word.
rinnen, verb, ‘to run, flow, leak, drop, from Middle High German rinnen, Old High German rinnan, ‘to flow, swim, run.’ This verb is common to Teutonic in the same sense; Gothic rinnan, Anglo-Saxon irnan, English to run, Dutch runnen, Old Saxon rinnan; the original sense of all these is ‘to move on rapidly.’ The nn of Gothic rinnan is usually regarded as a part of the present stem for no (compare Greek δάκνω, Latin sper-no), and a root ren, run, is assumed, which is preserved in Anglo-Saxon ryne (from *runi-).
Rippe (Luther, Riebe), feminine, ‘rib,’ from Middle High German rippe (ribe), neuter and feminine, Old High German rippa, feminine, rippi (ribi), neuter ‘rib’; corresponding to the equivalent Dutch rib, ribbe, Anglo-Saxon ribb, English rib, Old Icelandic rif; Gothic *ribi, neuter (plural *ribja), is by chance not recorded. Teutonic ribja-, from pre-Teutonic rebhyo-, is cognate with Modern High German Rebe and Old Slovenian rebro, neuter, ‘rib,’ from rebhro-. See Rebe, where ‘entwining’ is deduced as the primary meaning of Rippe.
Rispe, feminine, ‘panicle,’ from Middle High German rispe, ‘f., ‘branches, bushes,’ akin to Old High German hrispahi, neuter, ‘bushes’; of obscure origin. The derivation from Old High German hrëspan, Middle High German rëspen, ‘to pluck, gather,’ is not quite satisfactory.
Rist, masculine, ‘wrist, instep; withers,’ from Middle High German rist, riste, masculine, feminine, and neuter, ‘wrist, instep’; Old High German *rist, as well as the implied earlier *wrist, are by chance not recorded; compare Dutch wrist (dialectic Frist), Anglo-Saxon wyrst, wrist, English wrist, Old Frisian riust, wirst, ‘wrist, ankle,’ Old Icelandic rist, feminine, ‘instep’; Gothic *wrists is not recorded. The primitive meaning of the cognates is usually assumed to be ‘turning-point,’ Rist being referred to a ​Teutonic root wrī̆þ, ‘to turn,’ which has been reserved in English to writhe, as well as in Modern High German Reitel, ‘packing-stick’ (Middle High German reitel for an earlier *wreitel), Other etymologists connect the word with Greek ῥίζα (from *ϝρισδα?), ‘root.’ Yet Old High German rîho (for earlier *wrîho), Modern High German Reihen, is probably most closely connected with the cognates of Rist, so that Gothic *wristi- would represent wrihsti-, and thus imply an Aryan root wrī̆k.
Riß, masculine, ‘cleft, gap, schism,’ from Middle High German riȥ, masculine, ‘cleft’; the corresponding Old High German riȥ, masculine, in contrast to the Middle High German and Modern High German which are connected with the verb reißen, preserves the earlier meaning ‘letter’ (Gothic writs, ‘stroke, point’), which connects it with Gothic wrîtan, ‘to write, draw’ (see reißen). Compare, moreover, Riß, in the earlier sense of ‘sketch.’
Ritt, masculine, ‘ride,’ first occurs in early Modern High German; a derivative of reiten.
Ritten, masculine, ‘fever,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rite, ritte, Old High German rito, ritto, masculine, for an earlier *hriþjo, ‘fever’; so too Anglo-Saxon hriþa, masculine, ‘fever’; allied to Old High German rîdon, Middle High German rîden, ‘to shiver,’ Anglo-Saxon hriþian, ‘to shiver in a fever,’ Old High German rîdo, ‘shivering,’ Anglo-Saxon hriþ, ‘storm.’ The root hrī̆þ, pre-Teutonic krī̆t, ‘to move wildly,’ appears also in Old Irish crith, ‘shivering.’
Ritter, neuter, ‘chevalier, knight,’ from Middle High German ritter, riter, masculine, ‘horseman, knight’ (also rîtœre); the form with tt is due to a confusion with Old High German ritto, ‘horseman’ (from ridjo). See reiten and Reuter.
Ritze, feminine, ‘rift, rent,’ from Middle High German riz (genitive ritzes), masculine, ‘rift, wound,’ like rißen, from Middle High German ritzen, ‘to scratch, wound,’ Old High German rizzen, rizzân; allied to reißen.
Robbe, feminine, ‘sea-dog, seal,’ borrowed from Low German, like most Modern High German words with a medial bb (Ebbe, Krabbe, &c.); compare Dutch rob, masculine, ‘sea-dog, seal’; the equivalent Scandinavian kobbi, similar in sound (akin to kópr, ‘young sea-dog’), is not allied. The Teutonic word, Gothic *silha- (compare Anglo-Saxon seolh, English seal, Old High German sëlah, Old Icelandic selr) became obsolete in German at an early period. The source and history of the Low German term is obscure.
Roche (1.), masculine, ‘ray, thornback,’ from Low German ruche; compare the equivalent Dutch roch, rog, Anglo-Saxon reohha, *rohha, whence Middle English reihe, rouhe; also English roach, rocke? (English ray is derived from Latin raja, whence also Italian raja, French raie).
Roche (2.), masculine, ‘castle’ (at chess), from the equivalent Middle High German roch, neuter; borrowed with chess-playing from the French (roc, whence also Middle English and English rook). The ultimate source is Persian rukh, rokh, ‘archer mounted on an elephant’ (at chess), Derivative rochieren.
röcheln, verb, ‘to rattle,’ from Middle High German rücheln, rüheln, ‘to neigh, roar, rattle’; allied to Old High German rohôn, Middle High German rohen, ‘to grunt, roar’; compare Dutch rogchelen, ‘to spit out.’ The Teutonic root ruh, ruhh, preserved in these words, has been connected with the Slavonic root ryk (from rûk); compare Old Slovenian rykati, ryknąti, ‘to roar’ (Lettic ŕūkt), to which has to be added perhaps the Greek-Latin root rug in rugire, ‘to roar,’ ὀρυγμός, ‘roaring.’
Rock, masculine, ‘coat, robe, petticoat,’ from Middle High German roc (genitive rockes), Old High German rocch, masculine, ‘outer garment, coat’; corresponding to the equivalent Dutch rok, Old Frisian rok, Anglo-Saxon rocc, Old Icelandic rokkr; the implied Gothic *rukka- is wanting. From the Teutonic cognates is derived the Romance class, French rochet, ‘surplice’ (Middle Latin roccus, ‘coat’), which again passed into English (rochet). The early history of the Teutonic cognates is obscure; allied to Rocken?.
Rocken, masculine, ‘distaff,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rocke, Old High German roccho, masculine; common to Teutonic in the same sense; compare Dutch rok, rocken, Anglo-Saxon *rocca, Middle English rocke, English rock, Old Icelandic rokkr; Gothic *rukka is by chance not recorded. The Teutonic word passed into Romance; compare Italian rocca, ‘distaff.’ It may be doubted whether Recken and Rock are derived from an old root rak, ‘to spin,’ which does not occur elsewhere. At any rate, Rocken is not connected with the equivalent Low German wocken, since the cognates of Rocken, according to the Low German and English terms, have not lost an initial w.
reden, verb, ‘to root out,’ from Middle High German roden, the Middle German and Low German variant of riuten, ‘to root out.’
Rodomontade, feminine, ‘boasting, bluster, swaggering,’ from the equivalent French rodomontade, Italian rodomondata, feminine Rodomonte is derived from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, and is the name of a boastful Moorish hero; it first appears in Boiardo's Orlando Innamorata, and means literally ‘roller of mountains, one who boasts that he can roll away mountains.’
Rogen, masculine, ‘roe, spawn,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rogen, Old High German rogan, masculine, for an earlier *hrogan, mm.; also Middle High German roge, Old High German rogo, masculine; corresponding to the equivalent Old Icelandic hrogn, neuter plural, Anglo-Saxon *hrogn, English roan, ​roe. Gothic *hrugna- is by chance not recorded. The true source of the word cannot be found; some connect it with Anglo-Saxon hrog, ‘nasal mucus,’ others with Greek κρόκη, ‘pebble,’ Sanscrit çarkara, ‘gravel.’
Roggen, masculine, for the genuine High German Rocke, Rocken (in Bavarian and Hessian, Korn is almost invariably used), ‘rye.’ The gg of the Modern High German written form is either Low German or Swiss (see Egge in list of corrections); in Middle High German rocke, Old High German rocko, masculine, ‘rye, secale’; corresponding to Old Saxon roggo, Dutch rogge. Upper German, as well as Low German and Frisian, imply the primary form *rŭggn-. On the other hand, English and Scandinavian assume a Gothic *rŭgi-; compare Anglo-Saxon ryge, English rye, and the equivalent Old Icelandic rŭgr. Pre-Teutonic rughi- is proved by Lithuanian rugýs, ‘rye-corn’ (rugei, plural, ‘rye’), Old Slovenian rŭżĭ, ‘rye’ (Greek ὄρυζα, ‘rice,’ from Sanscrit vrĭhi, is not allied). Among the East Aryans this term is wanting.
roh, adjective, ‘rude, raw, crude, rough,’ from Middle High German rô (inflected râwer), Old High German rô (insl. râwêr), ‘raw, uncooked, rude’ (for earlier hrū̆wa-); compare the equivalent Old Saxon hrâ, Dutch raauw, Anglo-Saxon hreá, English raw, Old Icelandic hrár (for *hrávr), ‘raw, uncooked.’ This adjective, which is wanting in Gothic (*hrawa-, *hrêwa-), points to a Teutonic root hrū̆, from pre-Teutonic krū̆, which appears in numerous forms, such as Latin cruor, cruentas, crûdus (for *cruvidus?), Greek κρέας, ‘flesh,’ Sanscrit kravis, ‘raw meat,’ Sanscrit krûras, ‘bloody,’ Old Slovenian krŭvi, Lithuanian kraújas, ‘blood.’
Rohr, neuter, ‘reed, cane, rush,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German rôr (genitive rôres), neuter; an earlier *rauza is to be assumed; compare Gothic raus, neuter, Old Icelandic reyr, masculine, Dutch roer, ‘reed’ (wanting in Old Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, and English). The Teutonic form in s, closely allied to the Gothic, passed into Romance; compare French roseau, ‘creed’ and the equivalent Provençal raus. The form rausa-, with which Reuse and Röhre (Rost, (1)?) are also connected, is related to Latin ruscum, ‘butcher's broom’; compare Moos with Latin muscus.
Rohrdommel, feminine, ‘bittern,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rôrtumel, masculine; the word has been variously corrupted in Old High German and Middle High German, finally resulting in the Modern High German form. In Old High German occur horo-tukel, horotumil, literally ‘mud, slime tumbler’ (*rôrtumil is not found in Old High German). Middle Dutch roesdomel; Anglo-Saxon has a remarkable form, râradumbla, with the same meaning. The wide diffusion of these cognates, transformed in various ways by popular etymology, but closely resembling one another in sound, leaves to doubt as to their genuine Teutonic origin. The usual assumption that they are all corruptions of Latin crecopulus, cretobolus, onocrotalus won't bear investigation.
Röhre, feminine, ‘tube, pipe, flue,’ from Middle High German rœre, Old High German rôra, rôrra, from an earlier rôrea, feminine, ‘reed stalk, hollow stalk, reed’; a derivative of Rehr, Old High German rôr (Gothic *rauzjô, feminine, is wanting); hence Röhre is literally ‘the reed-shaped.’
röhren, verb, ‘to bellow,’ from Middle High German rêren, Old High German rêrên, ‘to bleat, roar’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon rârian, English to roar.
Rolle, feminine, ‘roll, roller, pulley, scroll, actor's part,’ from Middle High German rolle, rulle, feminine, ‘rotulus,’ also rodel, rottel, masculine and feminine, ‘scroll, list, document’; formed from Middle Latin rotulus, rotula, or rather the corresponding Romance cognates. Compare Italian rotolo, rullo, French rôle; whence also English to roll, Middle High German and Modern High German rollen, French rouler, Italian rullare.
Römer, masculine, ‘green, bulging wine-glass; rummer’ (‘Roman glass’?).
rösche, adjective, ‘prompt, lively, alert, fresh,’ an Upper German word (Bavarian and Swiss rœ̂š, ‘lively, precipitons, harsh’), from Middle High German rôsch, rœsche, Old High German rôsc, rôsci, ‘nimble, hasty, fresh’; cognate terms from which we may infer the primary form (Gothic rausqa-?) are entirely wanting. The connection of the word with rasch is uncertain.
Rose, feminine, ‘rose,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rôse, Old High German rôsa, feminine; compare the equivalent Dutch roos, Anglo-Saxon rŏse, English rose; adopted in the Old High German period from Latin rŏsa. Had the word been borrowed earlier, the Latin quantity would have been retained in German (in Lilie, from Latin lîlia, the vowel was shortened, because lĭlja was the pronunciation in Middle Latin). Latin *rôsa is, however, implied also by the Romance cognates, Italian rosa and French rose. A Latin ŏ must have led in Old High German to the form *ruosa; compare Old High German scuola, ‘school,’ from Latin scŏla.
Rosine, feminine, ‘raisin,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German rôsîne (rasin), feminine; the latter, like Middle Latin rosina, is a corruption of French raisin (sec, ‘raisin’), which, with Italian racimolo, ‘bunch of grapes,’ is due to. Latin racêmus, ‘berry’; compare further Dutch rozijn, razijn, English raisin.
Rosmarin, masculine, ‘rosemary,’ first occurs in early Modern High German, formed from the equivalent Latin rosmarinus, whence also Dutch rozemarijn and Middle English rosmarine, English rosemary (implying a connection with Mary); the word in ​German and English is instinctively connected with Rose, ‘rose.’
Rost (1.), masculine, ‘grate, gridiron,’ from Middle High German rôst, masculine, ‘grate, funeral pile, glow, fire,’ Old High German rôst, masculine, rôsta, feminine, ‘small gridiron, frying-pan,’ The current derivation from Rohr, in which case we should have to assume ‘iron grating’ as the primitively sense of Rost, does not satisfy the meaning (Old High German rôstpfanna, Middle High German rôstpfannue). Derivative rösten, ‘to roast, broil,’ Middle High German rœsten, Old High German rôsten, ‘to lay on the gridiron, roast’; hence the Romance cognates, Italian arrostir, ‘to roast,’ French rôtir, and from this again comes English to roast.
Rost (2.), masculine, ‘rust, mildew, blight,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rost, masculine, ‘rust, aerugo, rubigo’; corresponding to the equivalent Old Saxon rost, Dutch roest, Anglo-Saxon rûst, English rust (Scotch roost), For Gothic *rū̆sta-, ‘rust,’ nidwa, feminine, was used. Rost belongs to the Teutonic root rū̆d (pre-Teutonic rudh), ‘to be red,’ appearing in Modern High German rot. From the same root was formed the equivalent Old High German rosamo, which assumed early in Middle High German the meaning ‘freckle,’ as well as Old Icelandic ryð, neuter, Middle High German rot, masculine and neuter, Old Slovenian rŭzda (for rudja), feminine, Lithuanian rûdis (rudė́ti, ‘to rust’), Latin robigo, ‘rust’; also Lettic rûsa, ‘rust,’ rusta, ‘brown colour.’
rösten (1.), see under Rost (1).
rosten (2.), verb, ‘to steep, water-rot flax or hemp,’ from Middle High German rœȥen, rœtzen, ‘to rot, cause to rot,’ implying a connection with rösten (1); allied to rôȥ, adjective, ‘mellow, soft,’ rôȥȥen, ‘to rot,’ and Old High German rôȥȥên, ‘to rot.’ From a Teutonic root raut, ‘to rot’; compare Dutch rot, ‘rotten, decayed,’ Old Saxon rôtôn, ‘to rot,’ Anglo-Saxon rotian, English to rot, to ret (from Anglo-Saxon *reátian?), ‘to steep, water-rot,’ Old Icelandic rotenn, ‘putrefied’; see rotten (2).
Roß (1.), neuter, ‘horse, steed,’ from Middle High German and Old High German ros (genitive rosses), neuter, ‘horse,’ especially ‘charger,’ for earlier *hrossa-; compare Old Saxon hross, Dutch ros, Anglo-Saxon hors, English horse, Old Icelandic hross, neuter, ‘horse.’ Gothic *hrussa- is wanting, the term used being Old Aryan aíhwa- (Old Saxon ëhu, Anglo-Saxon eoh, Old Icelandic jór), equivalent to Latin equus, Greek ἵππος, Sanscrit áçva-s (Lithuanian aszvà, ‘mare’). In Middle High German the term Pferd appears; Roß is still used almost exclusively in Upper German with the general sense of ‘horse.’ From the Teutonic cognates is derived the Romance term, French rosse, ‘sorry horse, jade,’ The origin of Teutonic hrussa- is uncertain; as far as the meaning is concerned, it may be compared, as is usually done, with Latin currere for *curs-ere, *cṛs-ere, root kṛs, ‘to run,’ or with the Sanscrit root kûrd, ‘to leap,’ with which Old Icelandic hress, ‘quick,’ may also be connected. For another derivation see rüsten —
Roßtäuscher, masculine, ‘horse-dealer,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rostûscher, rostiuscher, masculine (see tauschen), retains the original sense of the old word Roß.
Roß (2.), neuter, ‘honeycomb,’ from the equivalent Middle High German râȥ, râȥe, feminine; Old High German *râȥa is by chance not recorded; corresponding to Old Low German râta, ‘favus,’ Dutch raat, feminine, ‘virgin honey’; undoubtedly a genuine Teutonic term. The derivation from Latin radius is unfounded; Old French raie de miel (from raie, ‘ray,’ radius) is due to the influence of the Teutonic word, in Gothic *rêta, feminine, which cannot, however, be traced farther back.
rot, adjective, ‘red,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German rôt, adjective; corresponding to the equivalent Gothic rauþs, Old Icelandic rauðr, Anglo-Saxon reád, English red (Anglo-Saxon also reód, Old Icelandic rjóðr, ‘red’), Dutch rood, Old Saxon rôd. Gothic and common Teutonic rauda-, from pre-Teutonic roudho-, is a graded form of the widely-diffused Aryan root rū̆dh, ‘to be red,’ which appears also in Modern High German Rost (2), as well as in Old High German rutichôn, ‘to be reddish,’ Middle High German rō̆ten, ‘to redden,’ and Middle High German rŏt, ‘red’; also in Gothic gariudjô, ‘shamefacedness,’ and perhaps Gothic *bi-rusnjan, ‘to honour,’ Anglo-Saxon rudu, ‘redness,’ and rûd, ‘red,’ English rud (Anglo-Saxon rudduc, English ruddock). In the non-Teutonic languages, besides the words adduced under Rost (2), the following are the principal cognates: Sanscrit rudhirá-s, ‘red,’ rôhita, ‘red’ (for *rôdhita); Greek ἐρυθρός, ‘red,’ ἔρευθος, ‘redness, flush,’ ἐρυσίπελας, ‘erysipelas,’ ἐρεύθω, ‘to redden’ (Old Icelandic rjóða; Anglo-Saxon reódan, ‘to redden, kill’); Latin ruber (rubro- for *rudhro-, Greek ἐρυθρός, like barba for *bardhâ, see Bart), rufus, ‘red,’ rubidus, ‘dark red,’ rubeo, ‘to blush with shame’; Old Slovenian rŭdrŭ, ‘red,’ rŭděti sę, ‘to blush’; Lithuanian rùdas, rùsvas, ‘reddish brown,’ raúdas, raudónas, ‘red,’ raudà, ‘red colour.’ It is noteworthy that red in several of these languages is a sign of shame. Moreover, the Teutonic cognates may be explained from an Aryan root rut, which appears also in Latin rŭt-ilus, ‘reddish.’ — Derivatives Rötel, masculine, ‘red chalk,’ from Middle High German rœtel, rœtelstein, masculine, English ruddle; compare the equivalent Latin rubrĭca, from ruber. — Röteln, plural, ‘measles.’ —
Rotwelsch, ‘jargon, cant,’ from Middle High German rôtwalsch, ‘sharpers' language, gibberish,’ allied to rôt, ‘red-haired, deceptive’? rôt, ​‘false, cunning,’ frequently occurs in Middle High German.
Rotte, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German rotte, rote, feminine, ‘troop, detachment’; borrowed in the Middle High German period from Old French rote, ‘division of an army, troop,’ whence also English rout (Middle English route), Dutch rot. The Old French term is derived from Middle Latin rutta, rupta; compare Reuter.
rotten (1.), verb, ‘to root out,’ formed from the earlier Middle German roten, a variant of Middle High German riuten, ‘to root out’; compare Bavarian rieden, Swiss ussrū̆de, ‘to root out.’
rotten (2.), verb, ‘to cause to rot or decay, Modern High German only, from the equivalent Low German and Dutch rotten; see rösten (2).
Rotz, masculine, ‘mucus, snot,’ from the equivalent Middle High German roz, rotz, Old High German roz, earlier hroz, masculine and neuter, formed from a Teutonic root hrū̆t (Aryan krud); compare Old High German rûȥan, Anglo-Saxon hrûtan, ‘to snore, snort,’ Old Icelandic hrjóta. It can scarcely be compared with Greek κόρυζα, ‘cold, catarrh.’
Rübe (Upper German Rube), feminine, ‘rape, turnip,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rüebe, ruobe, Old High German ruoba, ruoppa, feminine. The Old High German word cannot have been borrowed from Latin râpa, ‘rape,’ although names of vegetables (compare Kohl, Kappes, and Rettich) have passed directly from Latin into Old High German; for if the word were borrowed thus, the sounds of Latin râpa must have been preserved, or rather the p must have been changed into ff. The assumption that the primary Teutonic form rôbî appearing in Rübe was borrowed is opposed by the Old High German graded form râba, Middle High German râbe, ‘rape’ (Swiss rǟbi). The pre-Teutonic word is therefore related to Latin râpum, râpa, with which Greek ῥάπυς, ῥάφυς, ‘turnip,’ ῥάφανος, ῥαφάνη, Old Slovenian rěpa, Lithuanian rópė, ‘turnip,’ are also connected. These cognates are wanting in East Aryan, hence the supposition that they were borrowed, as in the case of Hanf, is not to be discarded.—
Rübezahl, ‘Numbernips, a fabulous spirit of the Riesengebirge,’ is a contraction of Middle High German Ruobezagel, ‘turnip-tail’ (Middle High German zagel is equivalent to English tail, Anglo-Saxon tœgel).
Rubrik, feminine, ‘rubric,’ from late Middle High German rubrike, feminine, ‘red ink’, from French rubrique. whence also English rubric; for Latin rubrica see Rötel.
ruchlos, adjective, ‘infamous, flagitious,’from Middle High German ruoche-lôs, ‘unconcerned, reckless,’ allied to Middle High German ruoche, feminine, ‘care, carefulness’; compare English reckless; see ruhen and geruben.
ruchtbar, ruchbar, adjective, ‘notorious, Modern High German only, from Low German, as is indicated by the Low German and Dutch cht for the High German ft; allied to Middle High German ruoft, ‘fame, reputation’; see anrüchig, berüchtigt, and Gerücht.
Ruck, masculine, ‘jerk, tug,’ from Middle High German ruc (genitive ruckes), Old High German ruc (genitive rucches), masculine, ‘sudden motion, jerk.’—
rücken, verb, ‘to jerk,’ from Middle High German rücken, Old High German rucchen, ‘to push along’; Gothic *rukki, masculine, ‘jolt,’ and *rukkjan, ‘to jerk,’ are wanting; compare Old Icelandic rykkja, ‘to jerk,’ and rykkr, masculine, ‘jolt,’ Anglo-Saxon roccian, ‘to jerk,’ English to rock.
rucken, verb, ‘to coo’ (of pigeons), allied to Middle High German ruckezen, ‘to coo,’ and rucku, interjection, ‘coo!’ (of pigeons); onomatopoetic forms.
Rücken, im., ‘back, rear, ridge,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rücke, Old High German rucki, earlier hrukki, masculine (Gothic *hrugja- is to be assumed); compare the equivalent Old Saxon hruggi, Dutch rug, Anglo-Saxon hrycg, English ridge, Old Icelandic hryggr. Greek ῥάχις, ‘back,’ is not allied, because krakjó- is the Old Aryan form for Rücken. It is more probably related to Old Irish crocen, ‘skin, back,’ and the Sanscrit root kruñc, ‘to bend,’ so Rücken may have been named from its flexibility. See zurück.—
Rückgrat, ‘spine’; see Grat.—
rücken, verb; see Ruck.
Rüde, masculine, ‘hound,’ from Middle High German rüde, masculine, ‘big hound,’ Old High German rudo, hrudeo; Old High German *rutto (compare Modern High German dialectic Rütte) is by chance not recorded, but it may be assumed from the equivalent Anglo-Saxon ryÞÞa, hryþþa, masculine. Their origin is not certain, especially as it cannot be determined whether the initial h of the Anglo-Saxon word is permanent; we have probably to assume Gothic *ruÞja, masculine. Akin to Anglo-Saxon roðhund?.
Rudel, neuter, ‘flock, herd, troop,’ Modern High German only, of uncertain etymology, perhaps a diminutive of Rotte, ‘host’ (compare Middle High German rode with rotte). Old Icelandic riðull, ‘small detachment of soldiers,’ can scarcely prove the genuine German origin of Rudel, since it probably belongs to riða, ‘to ride.’ The Kinship of Rudel with Gothic wriþus, ‘herd,’ is also uncertain.
Ruder, n,‘oar, rudder,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruoder, Old High German ruodar, neuter; corresponding to the equivalent Dutch roer, Anglo-Saxon rôþer, English rudder (Gothic *rôþr, neuter, ‘oar,’ is by chance not recorded); in Old Icelandic with a different suffix rœðe, neuter, ‘oar,’ while róðr, masculine, signifies ‘rowing.’ Gothic *rô-þra-, ‘oar,’ belongs to Anglo-Saxon rôwan, strong verb, English to row, Old Icelandic róa, Dutch roeijen, Middle High German rüejen, ruon, all of which signify ‘to row.’ The Teutonic ​root rô appears with the same meaning in the other Aryan languages, as rô, rē̆, er, ar; compare Old Irish rám, Latin rê-mus, ‘oar’ (ratis, ‘raft’), Greek ἐ-ρέ-της, ‘rower,’ τρι-ήρης, ‘trireme’; ἐρετμός, ‘oar,’ Sanscrit arítra-s, ‘oar’; also the Aryan root rê, ‘to push,’ in Old Slovenian rinąti, rějati, ‘to push,’ Sanscrit ar, ‘to drive.’ Moreover, English oar, from Anglo-Saxon âr (Old Icelandic âr) is the relic of another Old Teutonic term (whence Finnish airo, ‘oar’).
Ruf, masculine, ‘call, cry; report, fame, reputation,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruof, Old High German ruof, masculine, for an earlier *hruof; corresponding to Gothic hrôps, masculine, ‘cry, clamour.’ —
rufen, verb, ‘to call out, cry,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruofen, Old High German ruofan; corresponding to Old Saxon hrópan, Dutch roepen, Anglo-Saxon hrôpan (wanting in English), ‘to call out’; in Gothic hrôpjan, Old High German ruofen, Modern High German rüefen, weak verb, with the same meaning. In the non-Teutonic languages there are no terms corresponding to the Teutonic root hrôp. See ruchtbar.
rügen, verb, ‘to denounce, censure, reprove,’ from Middle High German rüegen, Old High German ruogen, ‘to accuse, charge with, blame,’ for an earlier wrogjan; compare Gothic wrôhjan, Old Saxon wrôgjan, Anglo-Saxon wrêgan, ‘to accuse, charge with.’ Allied to Modern High German Rüge, ‘censure, blame, crime,’ Middle High German rüege, Gothic wrôhs, ‘accusation,’ Old Saxon wrôht, ‘strife,’ Anglo-Saxon wrôht, ‘accusation, strife, crime.’ The Gothic forms with h compared with the g in the other terms point to Aryan k, which was the cause of the grammatical change of h to g. An Aryan root wrôk, wrâk, has not yet been discovered.
Ruhe, feminine, ‘rest, repose, calm, peace,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruowe, Old High German ruowa, feminine (also Middle High German râwe, Old High German râwa, in the same sense); compare Old Icelandic ró, Anglo-Saxon rôw, feminine, ‘rest.’ Gothic *rôwa (with the graded form *rêwa) corresponds exactly to Greek ἐ-ρωή, ‘desisting, ceasing, rest,’ from Aryan rôwâ; the root rô contained in these words is probably allied to ra- in Modern High German Rast; yet the East Middle German Ruge used by Luther presents a difficulty. —
ruhen, verb, ‘to rest, repose, be calm,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruowen (râwên), Old High German ruowên (râwên); a denominative of Ruhe.
Ruhm, masculine, ‘fame, celebrity; rumour,’ from Middle High German ruom (ruon), masculine, ‘fame, honour, praise,’ Old High German ruon, earlier hruom, masculine; compare Old Saxon hrôm, masculine, ‘fame,’ Dutch roem. From the root hrô are derived, with a different suffix, the equivalent Old Icelandic hróðr, masculine, Anglo-Saxon hrêþ, masculine, Old High German hruod-, ruod-, in compounds like Rudolf, Robert, &c.; also Gothic hrôþeigs, ‘victorious.’ The Teutonic root hrô is based on Aryan kar, krā̆, to which Sanscrit kir, ‘to commend,’ and kîrtí, ‘fame,’ are allied.
Ruhr, feminine, ‘stir, disorder, diarrhœa, dysentery,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruor, ruore, feminine, literally ‘violent, hasty motion’; allied to rühren; compare Middle High German ruortranc, ‘purgative.’ The general meaning ‘‘violent motion’ is still preserved in the compound Aufruhr, ‘riot.’
rühren, verb, ‘to stir, move (the feelings); touch,’ from Middle High German ruërn, Old High German ruorern, ‘to put in motion, incite, stir up, bestir oneself, mix, touch’; compare Old Saxon hrôrian, ‘to move, stir, Dutch roeren, Anglo-Saxon hrêran (to which Anglo-Saxon hrêremûs, English reremouse, is allied), Old Icelandic hrœ́ra. We have probably to assume Gothic *hrôzjan, to which hrisjan, ‘to shake,’ and Old Icelandic hress, ‘quick,’ are perhaps allied. See Ruhr. The Teutonic root hrôs (Aryan krâs) has no cognate terms in the other groups.
rülpsen, verb, ‘to belch, eructate,’ Modern High German only, early Modern High German rülzen; of obscure origin. Yet late Middle High German rülz, ‘coarse fellow, peasant,’ seems to be allied.
Rum, masculine, late Modern High German from the equivalent English rum, whence also French rhum, rum. The source of the word is said to be some American language; formerly it was wrongly derived from Sanscrit rôma, ‘water.’
Rummel, masculine, ‘rumble, din, lumber, lump,’ Modern High German only, from Low German rummel, ‘heap’ Dutch rommelen, ‘to tumble,’ rommelzo, ‘medley’; see rumpeln. In the sense of ‘noise’ Modern High German Rummel is connected with Dutch rommelen, ‘to rattle, roar, drink (of beasts),’ to which Old Icelandic rymja, ‘to roar, make a noise,’ must be related.
rumpeln, verb, ‘to rumble, rummage, throw into confusion,’ from Middle High German rumpeln, ‘to make a noise or din, fall with a clatter’; probably an intensive form on account of the p. Compare the equivalent Middle English romblen, English to rumble; allied to Dutch rommelen, ‘to make a noise,’ the mb being assimilated to mm; hence Rummel means ‘lumber.’
Rumpf, masculine, ‘trunk, body,’ from the equivalent Middle High German (Middle German) rumph, masculine; in Upper German and Middle German botech, Old High German botah (Anglo-Saxon bodig, English body). Compare Low German rump, Dutch romp, ‘trunk,’ Middle English rumpe, English rump, Scandinavian rumpr, ‘rump.’ Allied to rümpfen?.
​ rümpfen, verb, ‘to turn up (the nose),’ from Middle High German rümphen, ‘to turn up (the nose), wrinkle’; Old High German *rumpfen is wanting, rimpfan (Middle High German rimphen), ‘to contract, wrinkle,’ being used; compare Dutch rimpelen, ‘to wrinkle,’ and rompelig, ‘rugged.’ The cognates have scarcely lost an initial h in spite of the existence of Anglo-Saxon hrympele, ‘wrinkle,’ and gehrumpen, ‘wrinkled,’ since gerumpen, ‘bent,’ is also recorded in Anglo-Saxon without an initial h. The Teutonic root rimp (compare further English rimple, rumple, and Dutch rimpel, ‘wrinkle’) has been connected with Greek ῥάμφος, ‘curved beak, especially of birds of prey,’ as well as ῥέμβομαι, ‘to roam,’ ῥαμφή, ‘curved dagger.’
rund, adjective, ‘round,’ from the equivalent Middle High German runt (genitive rundes), adjective; borrowed from French rond (from Latin rotundus), whence also English round, Dutch rond, Danish and Swedish rund.
Rune, feminine, see raunen.
Runge, feminine, ‘rung; bolt, pin; trigger,’ from Middle High German and Middle Low German runge, feminine, ‘drag-shoe’; Old High German *runga, older *hrunga, feminine, are by chance not recorded; compare Gothic hrugga, feminine, ‘staff,’ Anglo-Saxon hrung, English rung. The primary sense is probably ‘spar,’ therefore the connection with Modern High German Ring is doubtful.
Runkelrübe, feminine, ‘beetroot,’ Modern High German only, of obscure origin.
rünstig, adjective, ‘flowing, running,’ in blutrünstig, ‘bleeding, bloody,’ from Middle High German bluot-runsec, -runs, adjective, ‘bloody, wounded,’ allied to Middle High German and Old High German bluot-runs, ‘hæmorrhage, bleeding wound.’ Runs is an abstract from rinnen; compare Gothic runs (genitive runsis), ‘course,’ runs blôþis, ‘issue of blood.’ Hence also Modern High German (dialectic) Runs, ‘course of a torrent.’
Runzel, feminine, ‘wrinkle, fold, rumple,’ from the equivalent Middle High German runzel, Old High German runzila, feminine; diminutive of Old High German runza, Middle High German runze, feminine, ‘wrinkle.’ By inference from Old Icelandic krukka, Middle High German runke, and English wrinkle (Anglo-Saxon wrincle), the Old High German from runza represents *wrunkza, *wrunkizza, with a diminutive suffix; the loss of the guttural is normal as in Blitz from *blikz, Lenz from *lęnkz. In the non-Teutonic languages compare Latin rûga, Lithuanian rùkti, ‘to become wrinkled,’ raúkas, ‘wrinkle’ (see further rauh).
Rüpel, masculine, ‘coarse fellow, lubber,’ properly a Bavarian abbreviation of Ruprecht (hence Rüpel and Rüppel as surnames); for a similar use of proper names compare Metze. Probably the meaning of Rüpel was occasioned by Knecht Ruprecht, ‘Knight Robert’ (bugbear in nursery tales), in whose character maskers disported themselves in a rude and coarse manner.
rupfen, verb, ‘to pluck (feathers), pick,’ from Middle High German rupfen, ropfen, an intensive form of raufen. To this is allied ruppig, ‘battered,’ from Low German ruppen for Upper German rupfen.
Rüssel, masculine, ‘trunk (of an elephant), snout,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rüeȥel, masculine; Modern High German has shortened the real stem vowel as in lassen, from Middle High German lâȥen. Old High German *ruoȥil, earlier *wruoȥil, are unrecorded. Compare the equivalent Anglo-Saxon wrôt, East Frisian wrôte, formed without the l suffix; also Old High German ruozzen, ‘to root or tear up the earth,’ Dutch wroeten and North Frisian wretten, ‘to root,’ Anglo-Saxon wrôtan, wrôtian, English to root. The Teutonic root wrôt, ‘to root up’ (Rüssel is literally ‘the uprooting snout of a pig’), from pre-Teutonic wrôd (yet see Wurzel), has not yet been discovered in the non-Teutonic languages; perhaps Latin rôdere, ‘to gnaw,’ is primitively allied.
Rüste, feminine, from the equivalent late Middle High German rust, feminine, ‘repose, rest,’ a variant of Rast, derived from Low German. Compare Dutch rust, ‘rest.’
rüsten, verb, ‘to prepare, equip, arm,’ from Middle High German rüsten, Old High German rusten, earlier *hrustjan, ‘to arm, prepare, adorn’; compare Dutch rusten, Anglo-Saxon hyrstan (for hrystan), ‘to deck, adorn.’ A denominative of Old High German rust, ‘armour,’ Anglo-Saxon hyrst, ‘decoration, adornment, armour,’ which again are verbal abstracts from a Teutonic root hruþ, ‘to adorn.’ Compare Anglo-Saxon hreódan, ‘to adorn,’ Old Icelandic hrjóða, ‘to cleanse, discharge (a ship).’ May we also connected with this root hruþ, Teutonic *hrossa-, ‘charger,’ as a participle in ta- in the sense of ‘that which is adorned,’ in so far as it is an object of adornment? The Teutonic root hruþ (from Aryan kruth, krut?) has been said, probably without any proof, to exist in Greek κεκορυθμένος, ‘armed,’ κορύσσω, ‘to arm,’ κορυθ-, ‘helmet’; yet the dissyllable root κορυθ- cannot be made to tally with the Teutonic hruþ of one syllable. See also Gerüste.
rüstig, adjective, ‘prepared for action, vigorous, robust,’ from Middle High German rüstec, ‘vigorous, armed,’ Old High German rustîg, ‘prepared, adorned.’ With regard to the evolution of meaning compare fertig, also entrüstet. Old Icelandic hraustr, ‘brave, competent,’ is more remote.
Ruß, masculine, ‘soot,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German ruoȥ, masculine; compare Dutch roet, ​‘soot.’ Low German sot, English soot, and its equivalent Anglo-Saxon sôt are scarcely allied. Old High German ruoȥ probably represents*hruoȥ,*hrôta-, but whether it is to be connected with Gothic hrôt, ‘roof,’ is more than questionable; it is more probably allied to Anglo-Saxon hrôt, ‘dirt.’ No cognate terms are found in the non-Teutonic languages.
Rute, feminine, ‘rod, switch, wand, rod (about 15 feet),’ from Middle High German ruote, Old High German ruota, feminine, ‘switch, rod, pole, rod (a measure)’; corresponding to Old Saxon rôda, t., ‘cross,’ Dutch roede, ‘rod (also a measure),’ Anglo-Saxon rôd, feminine ‘cross,’ English rod, rood. Gothic *rôda, feminine, ‘pole, stake,’ is wanting. A pre-Teutonic râdhá- is not found elsewhere; but is Latin rădius, ‘staff,’ primitively allied?
rutschen, verb, ‘to slide, glide, slip,’ from late Middle High German rütschen, ‘to glide,’ with the variant rützen. Perhaps it belongs to the same root as rütteln, rütten (zerrütten), which are based on Middle High German rütteln, rütten, ‘to shake.’