English
rigor
Rigor comes from Latin rigor ‘stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *rigā- ‘to lead toward’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rigā-‘to lead toward’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigōas rigere‘to be rigid’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErigor‘stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rigā-‘to lead toward’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigōas rigere‘to be rigid’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErigor‘stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005same form
Earliest quotation: 2005, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Pashazade: “Heat always upped the rate at which rigor gripped…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ- ‘to stretch tight, bind’
through Latin rigō ‘to be rigid’
through Latin rigor ‘stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness’
Today it means
noun —
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *rigā- / rigor