English
rowan
Rowan comes from Middle English ron ‘a rowan-tree berry’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- ‘red’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewdʰ-‘red’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ron‘a rowan-tree berry’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020rowan
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewdʰ-‘red’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ron‘a rowan-tree berry’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020rowan
Earliest quotation: 2020, Christopher de Bellaigue, The end of farming?: “Among the pines grew rowans hung with scarlet berries,…”
The story
Originally Scots and northern English, from Middle English ron, rone, compare also Northern English raan, ran. Also related to Norwegian Bokmål rogn, Danish røn.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- ‘red’
red, ruby, rust, reddish, russel, ruddy, redness, rouse, rubric, corroborate, roux, rubella, russet, rufous, erythema, rud, ruddock, roan, robusta, 34 more
Today it means
noun Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- / rowan