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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8" content="text/html;charset=utf-8;"> <title data-react-helmet="true" name="twitter:title">r | Search Online Etymology Dictionary</title> <meta data-react-helmet="true" http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="theme-color" content="#83001d"/><meta data-react-helmet="true" name="description" property="og:description" content="The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. 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href="/search?q=r&type=2"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">phrase</div></a><a href="/search?q=r&type=3"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">suffix</div></a><a href="/search?q=r&type=4"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">prefix</div></a><a href="/search?q=r&type=5"><div class="selectorItem--S2kay">word root</div></a><div class="underline--2GdPQ"></div></div>2538 entries found.</div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of R" href="/word/R#etymonline_v_3245">R<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, traceable to Phoenician and always representing more or less the same sound, which in many languages is typically so resonant and continuous as to be nearly akin to the vowels, but in English is closer to <span class="foreign notranslate">-l-</span>.</p> <p>It was aspirated at the start of words (<span class="foreign notranslate">hr-</span>) in Old English, as in Greek, but this was abandoned in English spelling and pronunciation by the end of the Old English period, but the <span class="foreign notranslate">rh-</span> spelling survives in many words borrowed from Greek. In many languages and some dialects (e.g. Scottish) it is pronounced with a distinct trilling vibration of the tongue-tip, which gave it its ancient nickname of "the dog letter;" in other regional dialects (e.g. Boston) it is omitted unless followed by a vowel, while in others it is introduced artificially in pronunciation ("idear," "drawring," <span class="foreign notranslate">tomorrer</span> for <span class="foreign notranslate">tomorrow</span> is attested in print by 1901).</p> <blockquote> If all our r's that are written are pronounced, the sound is more common than any other in English utterance (over seven per cent.); the instances of occurrence before a vowel, and so of universal pronunciation, are only half as frequent. There are localities where the normal vibration of the tip of the tongue is replaced by one of the uvula, making a guttural trill, which is still more entitled to the name of "dog's letter" than is the ordinary r; such are considerable parts of France and Germany; the sound appears to occur only sporadically in English pronunciation. [Century Dictionary]聽 </blockquote> <p>Louise Pound ("The Humorous 'R'") notes that in British humorous writing, <span class="foreign notranslate">-ar-</span> "popularly indicates the sound of the vowel in <span class="foreign notranslate">father</span>" and formations like <a href="/word/larf" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of larf " class="crossreference notranslate">larf</a> (for <span class="foreign notranslate">laugh</span>) "are to be read with the broad vowel but no uttered <span class="foreign notranslate">r</span>."</p> <blockquote> The moment we encounter the added <span class="foreign notranslate">r's</span> of <span class="foreign notranslate">purp</span> or <span class="foreign notranslate">dorg</span> in our reading we know that we have to do with humor, and so with <span class="foreign notranslate">school-marm</span>. The added consonants are supposed to be spoken, if the words are uttered, but, as a matter of fact, they are less often uttered than seen. The words are, indeed, largely visual forms; the humor is chiefly for the eye. [Louise Pound, "The Humorous 'R,'" American Mercury, October 1924] </blockquote> <p>H.A. Shands ("Some Peculiarities of Speech in Mississippi," 1893) notes <strong><span class="foreign notranslate">uh</span></strong> as "The common negro form for the indefinite article <strong><span class="foreign notranslate">a</span></strong>," and adds, "This is generally written <span class="foreign notranslate">er</span> by dialect writers but no sound of <span class="foreign notranslate">r</span> is ever apparent in the negro pronunciation."聽</p> <p>Louise Pound also quotes Henry James on the characteristic prominence of the medial -r- sound (which tends to be dropped in England and New England) in the speech of the U.S. Midwest, "under some strange impulse received toward consonantal recovery of balance, making it present even in words from which it is absent, bringing it in everywhere as with the small vulgar effect of a sort of morose grinding of the back teeth."</p> <p>聽In a circle, meaning "registered (trademark)," attested by 1925. <strong><span class="foreign notranslate">R&R</span></strong> "rest and relaxation," is attested by 1953, American English; <strong><span class="foreign notranslate">R&B</span></strong> "rhythm and blues" (type of popular music) is attested by 1949, American English. Form <span class="foreign notranslate">three Rs</span>, see <a href="/word/Three%20Rs" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of Three Rs " class="crossreference notranslate">Three Rs</a>.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/R#etymonline_v_3245"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div data-ad-container="true" class="adContainer--6CVz1 vertical" style="margin-top:1em"><span class="adLabel--35hfi">Advertisement</span><div id="div-gpt-ad-pc-sp-infeed-1" style="min-width:728px;min-height:90px"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of Ra" href="/word/Ra#etymonline_v_47767">Ra<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>"hawk-headed sovereign sun god of Egyptian mythology," from Egyptian <span class="foreign notranslate">R'</span> "sun, day."</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/Ra#etymonline_v_47767"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of ras" href="/word/ras#etymonline_v_36910">ras<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>Ethiopian title of chief ministers, generals, governors, etc., from Amharic <span class="foreign notranslate">ras</span> "chief, head," from Arabic <span class="foreign notranslate">ra's</span>.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/ras#etymonline_v_36910"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of Rabat" href="/word/Rabat#etymonline_v_47763">Rabat<!-- -->聽<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>Moroccan capital, from Arabic <span class="foreign notranslate">ar-ribat</span>, from <span class="foreign notranslate">ribat</span> "fortified monastery."</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/Rabat#etymonline_v_47763"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of rabbet" href="/word/rabbet#etymonline_v_3246">rabbet<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>"rectangular groove or channel cut out of the edge of a board or piece of stone so that it will join by overlapping with the next piece, similarly cut," late 14c., <span class="foreign notranslate">rabet</span>, from Old French <span class="foreign notranslate">rabat</span> "a recess in a wall, a lower section," literally "a beating down or back," a back-formation from <span class="foreign notranslate">rabattre</span> "to beat down, beat back" (see <a href="/word/rebate#etymonline_v_7352" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of rebate " class="crossreference notranslate">rebate</a> (v.); the noun is a doublet of this word).</p> <p>The verb, meaning "to groove or fit (boards, etc.) by cutting rabbets" is attested from mid-15c. (implied in <span class="foreign notranslate">rabatted</span>, <span class="foreign notranslate">rabetynge</span>); Middle English also had <span class="foreign notranslate">rabet</span> "joiner's plane, rabbet-plane" (mid-15c., from Old French <span class="foreign notranslate">rabot</span>).</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/rabbet#etymonline_v_3246"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div data-ad-container="true" class="adContainer--6CVz1 vertical" style="margin-top:1em"><span class="adLabel--35hfi">Advertisement</span><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7093273770345366" style="display:block;width:100%" data-ad-slot="5022190299" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of rabbi" href="/word/rabbi#etymonline_v_3247">rabbi<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>"Jewish doctor of religious law," early 14c. (in late Old English in biblical context only, as a form of address); in Middle English as a title prefixed to personal names, also "a spiritual master" generally; from Late Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbi</span>, from Greek <span class="foreign notranslate">rhabbi</span>, from Mishnaic Hebrew <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbi</span> "my master."</p> <p>This is formed from <span class="foreign notranslate">-i</span>, first person singular pronominal suffix, + <span class="foreign notranslate">rabh</span> "master, great one," title of respect for Jewish doctors of law. This is from the Semitic root <span class="foreign notranslate">r-b-b</span> "to be great or numerous" (compare <span class="foreign notranslate">robh</span> "multitude;" Aramaic <span class="foreign notranslate">rabh</span> "great; chief, master, teacher;" Arabic <span class="foreign notranslate">rabba</span> "was great," <span class="foreign notranslate">rabb</span> "master").</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/rabbi#etymonline_v_3247"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of rabbinate" href="/word/rabbinate#etymonline_v_47783">rabbinate<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>"dignity or office of a rabbi," 1702, from <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbin</span> "rabbi" (see <a href="/word/rabbinical" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of rabbinical " class="crossreference notranslate">rabbinical</a>) + <a href="/word/-ate#etymonline_v_26660" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of -ate " class="crossreference notranslate">-ate</a> (1).</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/rabbinate#etymonline_v_47783"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of rabbinical" href="/word/rabbinical#etymonline_v_47782">rabbinical<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(adj.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>"pertaining to rabbis or their language, learning, or opinions," 1620s, earlier <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbinic</span> (1610s); see <a href="/word/rabbi" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of rabbi " class="crossreference notranslate">rabbi</a> + <a href="/word/-ical" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of -ical " class="crossreference notranslate">-ical</a>. The <span class="foreign notranslate">-n-</span> is perhaps via <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbin</span> "rabbi" (1520s), an alternative form, from French <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbin</span> or directly from Medieval Latin <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbinus</span> (also source of Italian <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbino</span>, Spanish and Portuguese <span class="foreign notranslate">rabino</span>), perhaps from a presumed Semitic plural in <span class="foreign notranslate">-n</span>, or from Aramaic <span class="foreign notranslate">rabban</span> "our teacher," "distinguishing title given to patriarchs and the presidents of the Sanhedrin since the time of Gamaliel the Elder" [Klein], from Aramaic plural of noun use of <span class="foreign notranslate">rabh</span> "great."</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/rabbinical#etymonline_v_47782"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of rabbit" href="/word/rabbit#etymonline_v_3248">rabbit<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>common burrowing mammal, identified as a rodent, noted for prolific breeding, late 14c., <span class="foreign notranslate">rabet</span>, "young of the coney," suspected to be from Walloon <span class="foreign notranslate">rob猫te</span> or a similar northern French dialect word, a diminutive of Flemish or Middle Dutch <span class="foreign notranslate">robbe</span> "rabbit," which are of unknown origin. "A Germanic noun with a French suffix" [Liberman]. The adult was a <a href="/word/coney" title="Etymology, meaning and definition of coney " class="crossreference notranslate">coney</a> (q.v.) until 18c.</p> <blockquote> Zoologically speaking, there are no native rabbits in the United States; they are all hares. But the early colonists, for some unknown reason, dropped the word <span class="foreign notranslate">hare</span> out of their vocabulary, and it is rarely heard in American speech to this day. When it appears it is almost always applied to the so-called Belgian hare, which, curiously enough, is not a hare at all, but a true rabbit. [Mencken, "The American Language"] </blockquote> <p><span class="foreign notranslate"><strong>Rabbit punch</strong></span> "chop on the back of the neck" (1915) is so called from resemblance to a gamekeeper's method of dispatching an injured rabbit. Pulling rabbits from a hat as a conjurer's trick recorded by 1843. <span class="foreign notranslate"><strong>Rabbit's foot</strong></span> "good luck charm" is attested by 1879 in U.S. Southern black culture. Earlier references are to its use as a tool to apply cosmetic powders.</p> <blockquote> [N]ear one of them was the dressing-room of the principal danseuse of the establishment, who was at the time of the rising of the curtain consulting a mirror in regard to the effect produced by the application of a rouge-laden rabbit's foot to her cheeks, and whose toilet we must remark, <span class="foreign notranslate">passim</span>, was not entirely completed. [New York Musical Review and Gazette, Nov. 29, 1856] </blockquote> <p><span class="foreign notranslate"><strong>Rabbit-hole</strong></span> is by 1705. <span class="foreign notranslate"><strong>Rabbit ears</strong></span> "dipole television antenna" is from 1950. Grose's 1785 "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" has "RABBIT CATCHER. A midwife."</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/rabbit#etymonline_v_3248"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="word--C9UPa word_4pc--2SZw8"><div><a class="word__name--TTbAA word_thumbnail__name--1khEg" style="margin-bottom:5px;display:block" title="Origin and meaning of rabble" href="/word/rabble#etymonline_v_3249">rabble<!-- -->聽<!-- -->(n.1)<span class="word_thumbnail__name_icon--2RFFN"><i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="font-size:16px"></i></span></a><div class="word__etymology_expand--1s7tE"><section class="word__defination--2q7ZH undefined"><div></div><p>c. 1300, "pack of animals" (a sense now obsolete), of uncertain origin, but possibly related to Middle English <span class="foreign notranslate">rablen</span> "to gabble, speak in a rapid, confused manner" (mid-14c.), which is probably imitative of hurry, noise, and confusion (compare Middle Dutch <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbelen</span>, Low German <span class="foreign notranslate">rabbeln</span> "to chatter").</p> <p>The meaning "tumultuous crowd of vulgar, noisy people" is from late 14c., probably a back-formation from the Middle English verb. It was applied contemptuously to the common or low part of any populace, regardless of tumult, by 1550s.</p></section></div></div><a data-more="true" class="word_4pc__footer--2yfj3" href="/word/rabble#etymonline_v_3249"><span>Related entries & more</span>聽<i class="fa fa-chevron-right" style="opacity:0"></i></a><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div class="pagination_simple--1ilDd"><a style="visibility:hidden" title="prev" class="pagination_simple_prev--1rWzQ" role="button" href="/search?page=0&q=r&type="><i class="fa fa-2x fa-angle-left" aria-hidden="true"></i></a><a title="next" role="button" href="/search?page=2&q=r&type=">Next</a><a style="visibility:visible" title="next" class="pagination_simple_next--3KB2t" role="button" href="/search?page=2&q=r&type="><i class="fa fa-2x fa-angle-right" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></div><ul class="ant-pagination pagination--1DEpf" unselectable="unselectable"><li title="Previous Page" tabindex="0" class="ant-pagination-disabled 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