Etymograph

English

rout

Rout comes from Anglo-Norman route.

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400route
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rout
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400route
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rout
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto VII: “A route of people there aſſembled were, / Of…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English rout, route (‘group of people associated with one another, company; entourage, retinue; army; group of soldiers; group of pirates; large number of people, crowd; throng; group of disreputable people, mob; riot; group of animals; group of objects; proper condition or manner’) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman route, rute, Middle French rote, route, Old French rote, route, rute (‘group of people, company; group of armed people; group of criminals; group of cattle’) (modern French route (obsolete)), from Latin rupta (compare Late Latin ruta, rutta (‘group of marauders; riot; unlawful assembly’)), the feminine of ruptus (‘broken; burst, ruptured’), the perfect passive participle of rumpō (‘to break, burst, rupture, tear; to force open; (figurative) to annul; to destroy; to interrupt’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (‘to break; to tear (up)’). The English word is a doublet of route.

Every English word from Anglo-Norman route

Another origin of rout

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-‘break’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrunépti ~ *Hrumpéntireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rumpōreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErumpoas rumpere‘to break, burst, tear, rend, rupture’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rompre‘to break’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600route‘military defeat’
  7. Englishtodayrout

The noun is derived from Middle French route (‘military defeat; retreat’), from rout, archaic past participle of Middle French, Old French rompre (‘to break; to break up, disperse’) (modern French rompre (‘to break, snap; to break up (with someone)’)), from Latin rumpere, the present active infinitive of rumpō (‘to break, burst, rupture, tear; to force open; (figurative) to annul; to destroy; to interrupt’); see further at etymology 1. The verb is derived from the noun.

Another origin of rout

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ker-‘army’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hruttōną‘to snore’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrūtaną‘to snore’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrūtan‘to snore’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrūtan‘to snore’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500routen‘to snore’
  7. Englishtodayrout

The verb is derived from Middle English routen (‘to snore; to grunt, snort; to sleep; to dwell; to settle permanently’), [and other forms], from Old English hrūtan (‘to snore; to make a noise’), from Proto-West Germanic *hrūtan (‘to snore’), from Proto-Germanic *hrūtaną, *hreutaną (‘to snore’), from *hruttōną (‘to snore; to roar’), from Proto-Indo-European *ker-, *kor-, *kr- (‘to croak, crow’), *krut- (‘to snore; to roar’), probably ultimately imitative. The English word is cognate with Icelandic rjóta, hrjóta (‘to snore; to rattle, roar’), rauta (‘to roar’), Middle Dutch ruyten (‘to make a noise; to chatter, chirp’), Middle High German rūssen, rūzen (‘to make a noise; to buzz; to rattle; to snore’), Norwegian Nynorsk ruta (‘to make a loud noise; to roar, rumble’), Swedish ryta (‘to bellow, roar; to scream or shout angrily’). The noun is derived from the verb. It is cognate with Southern Norwegian rut (‘loud noise, din, roar’).

Another origin of rout

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*HrewdH-‘to cry, weep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*HréwdHti‘to cry (vocally)’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*reutaną‘to cry, wail’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350rauta‘to roar’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500routen‘to cry out, bellow, roar’
  6. Englishtodayrout

The verb is derived from Middle English routen (‘to cry out, bellow, roar’) [and other forms], from Old Norse rauta (‘to roar’), from Proto-Germanic *reutaną (‘to cry, wail’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *HrewdH- (‘to weep’), probably imitative. The English word is cognate with Danish ryde (‘to low, moo’), Latin rudere, rūdere (‘to bray; to cry’), Lithuanian raudóti (‘to wail; to lament; to sob’), Norwegian raute (‘to bellow; to low, moo’), Old Church Slavonic рꙑдати (rydati, “to wail, weep”), Old High German riozan (‘to roar; to wail’) (Middle High German riezen (‘to wail’)), Old Norse rjóta (‘to roar’), Old Swedish riuta, ryta (‘to howl, wail; to roar’) (modern Swedish ruta, ryta (‘to howl; to roar’) (regional)), Old Swedish röta (‘to bellow, roar’) (modern Swedish rauta, råta, rota, röta (‘to bellow, roar’) (regional)), Sanskrit रुद् (rud, “to cry, wail, weep; to howl, roar; to bewail, deplore, lament”). The noun is derived from the verb, or from a noun derived from Old Norse rauta (‘to roar’) (see above).

Another origin of rout

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreh₃d-‘to scrape, gnaw’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrōtaną‘to dig with the nose or snout, to root’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrōtan‘to root, to dig with the nose’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrōtan‘to root up or rummage with the snout’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wroten‘to search or root in the ground’
  6. English1500–presentwroot‘to search or root in the ground’
  7. Englishtodayrout

A variant of wrout, itself a variant of wroot (‘to search or root in the ground’) (obsolete), from Middle English wroten (‘to search or root in the ground; of a person: to dig earth; of a worm: to slither, wriggle; to corrode; of a worm: to irritate by biting the skin; to destroy (a fortification) by digging or mining’) [and other forms] (whence root), from Old English wrōtan (‘to root up or rummage with the snout’). from Proto-West Germanic *wrōtan, from Proto-Germanic *wrōtaną (‘to dig with the nose or snout, to root’); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (‘a root’), whence the English nouns wort and root.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Another origin of rout

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreh₃d-‘to scrape, gnaw’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrōtaną‘to root, to dig with the nose’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrōtan‘to rummage or root up with one's snout’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wroten‘to use one's nose or snout to rummage or root’
  5. Englishtodayrout

Possibly a variant of root (‘to dig or pull out by the roots; to abolish, exterminate, root out’), from Middle English wroten; see further at etymology 5. Some recent uses are difficult to tell apart from rout (‘of an animal, especially a pig: to search (for something) in the ground with the snout; to search for and find (something)’).

Today it means

noun A group of people; a crowd, a throng, a troop; in particular (archaic), a group of people accompanying or travelling with someone.

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

Etymograph / Anglo-Norman route / rout

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