English
rump
Rump comes from Middle Low German rump ‘the bulk or trunk of a body, trunk of a tree’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *rumpō.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rumpō‘trunk of a tree, log’reconstructed
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600rump‘the bulk or trunk of a body, trunk of a tree’
- Old Norsec. 800–1350rumpr
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rumpe
- Englishearliest quotation 1839rump
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rumpō‘trunk of a tree, log’reconstructed
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600rump‘the bulk or trunk of a body, trunk of a tree’
- Old Norsec. 800–1350rumpr
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rumpe
- Englishearliest quotation 1839rump
Earliest quotation: 1839, The Corsair: “And when they succeeded in forcing themselves back upon…”
first attested In the sense of remnant, first attested in the Rump Parliament of 1648; its original meaning here was a reference to the rotten, unclean hindquarters of an animal, gradually morphing to refer to the "remnant" aspect of the Parliament rather than its perceived unsavory nature (as stated in the etymology)
The story
The ultimate origin could be related to Proto-Germanic *hrimpaną (‘to wrinkle’) (Dutch rimpel and German rümpfen (‘to wrinkle’)); outside of Germanic, compare Ancient Greek ῥάμφος (rhámphos, “crooked beak”). In the sense of remnant, first attested in the Rump Parliament of 1648; its original meaning here was a reference to the rotten, unclean hindquarters of an animal, gradually morphing to refer to the "remnant" aspect of the Parliament rather than its perceived unsavory nature.
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *rumpō
Today it means
noun The hindquarters of a four-legged mammal, not including its legs
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *rumpō / rump