Etymograph

English

rob

Rob comes from Middle English robben, from Anglo-Norman rober, from Late Latin raubō, from Frankish *raubōn, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *raubōną ‘to rob’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-‘to snatch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubōną‘to rob, steal, plunder’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*raubōnreconstructed
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEraubō
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400rober
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500robben‘to steal, rob’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591rob

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-‘to snatch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubōną‘to rob, steal, plunder’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*raubōnreconstructed
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEraubō
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400rober
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500robben‘to steal, rob’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591rob

Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “I never robbed the soldiers of their pay.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to snatch’

corruption, route, corrupt, disrupt, eruption, rupture, erupt, rout, robe, reaver, 22 more

through Proto-Germanic *raubōną ‘to rob, steal, plunder’

rover, 2 more

through Frankish *raubōn

robbery, robber

Another origin of rob

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentربّ‘thickened fruit juice’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500rob
  3. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

verb To steal from, especially using force or violence.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- / rob

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