English
red
Red comes from Middle English red ‘red, crimson, scarlet (in color)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewdʰ-1reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rowdʰós1reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raudaz1reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raud1reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rēad1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500red1‘red’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599red1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English red
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “Your colour, I warrant you, is as red as…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewdʰ-Wiktionary, English redreconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rowdʰósWiktionary, English redreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raudazWiktionary, English redreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raudWiktionary, English redreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rēadWiktionary, English red
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redWiktionary, English red‘red’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599redWiktionary, English red. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “Your colour, I warrant you, is as red as…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with red, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-
- ruby ← rubi ← rubīnus ← rubeus ← rubeō
- rust ← *rustaz ← *rudʰso-
- rowan ← ron
- rouse ← rous ← rous ← ros ← russus
- russel ← roussel ← russulus ← russus ← *russos
- roux ← ros ← russus ← *russos ← *h₁rudʰ-tós
- ruddy ← rody ← rudiġ ← rudu
- corroborate ← corrōborātus ← corrōborō ← rōborō ← rōbur
- rubric ← rubriche ← rubrique ← rūbrīca ← ruber
- roan ← roano ← raudano
- rubella ← rubellus ← ruber
- russet ← rous
46 more relatives in the full family tree
No ads, ever.
Explore everything descended from *h₁rewdʰ- →
No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.
Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app
Today it means
noun The colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “red”. 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.