Etymograph

English

rapid

Rapid is borrowed from Middle French rapide and its source, Latin rapidus ‘swift’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapidus1‘swift, seizing’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600rapide1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1667rapid1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rapid
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VI: “Ascend my Chariot; guide the rapid Wheeles.”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErapidusWiktionary, English rapid‘swift, seizing’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600rapideWiktionary, English rapid
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1667rapidWiktionary, English rapid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VI: “Ascend my Chariot; guide the rapid Wheeles.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p- ‘to take away, snatch’

grave, repent, reeve, graf, surreptitious, 14 more

through Latin rapiō ‘snatch’

rape, ravine, rapture, raptor, rapacious, rapt, ravin, 7 more

Today it means

adj Very swift or quick.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rapid”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin rapidus / rapid

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