Etymograph

English

grouse

Grouse may come from Old French grue ‘crane’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grue‘crane’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1531grouse

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grue‘crane’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1531grouse

Earliest quotation: 1531, Esq; Read at the Society of Antiquaries: “Among fowls for the table [of King Henry VIII]…”

The story

Attested in the 1530s, as grows ("moorhen"), a plural used collectively.

Every English word from Old French grue

Another origin of grouse

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400groucieruncertain
  2. Normanc. 1066–presentsame formuncertain
  3. Englishtodaygrouse

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly borrowed from Norman groucier, from Old French groucier, grousser (‘to grumble, murmur’) [and other forms] (whence grutch (‘to complain; to murmur’) and grouch).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The further etymology is unknown, but it may be derived from Frankish *grōtijan (‘to make cry, scold, rebuke’) or of onomatopoeic origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The noun is derived from the verb.

Another origin of grouse

  1. Scotsc. 1450–presentgroosh‘excellent, very good’uncertain
  2. Englishtodaygrouse

Today it means

noun Any of various game birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere; specifically, the red grouse (Lagopus scotica) native to heather moorland on the British Isles.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French grue / grouse

Shirt and support for this word