English
rigid
Rigid comes from Latin rigidus ‘stiff’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rigēōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigeō‘to be stiff’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErigidus‘stiff’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rigide
- Englishearliest quotation 2011rigid
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rigēōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigeō‘to be stiff’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErigidus‘stiff’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rigide
- Englishearliest quotation 2011rigid
Earliest quotation: 2011, David Foster Wallace, The Pale King: “A sunflower, four more, one bowed, and horses in…”
The story
Merged with Middle English rigged, rygged, rugged (“upright like a spine, rigid”, literally “ridged”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ-
reach, irrigation, rigorous, rigor, 7 more
through Latin rigeō ‘to be stiff’
Today it means
adj Stiff, rather than flexible.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ- / rigid