Etymograph

English

rib

Rib comes from Proto-Germanic *ribją ‘rib, reef’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- ‘arch, ceiling, cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-1‘arch, ceiling, cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ribją1‘rib, reef’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ribi1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ribb1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rib1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598rib1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rib
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “It [lead] were too gross To rib her cerecloth…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-Wiktionary, English rib‘arch, ceiling, cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ribjąWiktionary, English rib‘rib, reef’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ribiWiktionary, English ribreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ribbWiktionary, English rib
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ribWiktionary, English rib
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598ribWiktionary, English rib. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “It [lead] were too gross To rib her cerecloth…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *ribją ‘rib, reef’

reef, 2 more

Another origin of rib

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ribbe‘hound's-tongue’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ribbe
  3. Englishtodayrib

Today it means

noun Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rib”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- / rib

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