Etymograph

English

rack

Rack comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reǵ-‘to straighten’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500rac
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rakke
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598rack

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reǵ-‘to straighten’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500rac
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rakke
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598rack

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’

right, real, director, source, region, regular, rule, direction, address, direct, rich, royal, correct, dress, regime, roy, arrangement, rank, ana, rex, rogue, regulate, radar, resurrection, arrange, interrogation, erect, regent, rector, regal, regency, insurrection, rectify, anorexia, raj, rake, rectum, rani, rhesus, rectification, 106 more

Another origin of rack

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150reċċan‘to stretch out, extend’
  2. Englishtodayrack

Another origin of rack

  1. Old Norsec. 800–1350reka‘to be drifted, tost’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reken
  3. Englishtodayrack

The noun is from Middle English rak, rakke, from Middle English rek (‘drift; thing tossed ashore; jetsam’), from the verb.

Another origin of rack

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rakken
  2. Englishtodayrack

Today it means

noun A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- / rack

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