Etymograph

English

rural

Rural comes from Old French rural, from Latin rūrālis ‘of the countryside’, from rūs ‘countryside’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *rewh₁os ‘open space’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*rewh₁-‘open space, field; to open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*rewh₁os‘open space, field’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rowos‘country, countryside’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErūs‘countryside’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErūrālis‘of the countryside, rural’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rural
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1913rural

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*rewh₁-‘open space, field; to open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*rewh₁os‘open space, field’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rowos‘country, countryside’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErūs‘countryside’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErūrālis‘of the countryside, rural’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rural
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1913rural

Earliest quotation: 1913, Robert Barr: “Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *rowos ‘country, countryside, open land’

rustic, 3 more

Today it means

adj Relating to the countryside or to agriculture.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *rewh₁- / rural

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