Etymograph

English

rich

Rich comes from Old English rīċe ‘powerful, rich’, from Proto-Germanic *rīks ‘king, ruler’, borrowed from Proto-Celtic *rīxs ‘king’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reǵ-1‘to straighten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃rḗǵs2‘king’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*rīxs2‘king’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīks2‘king’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīkijaz2‘kingly’reconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīkī2‘powerful’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150rīċe2‘powerful’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riche2‘strong’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1386–1390rich2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rich
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1386–1390, John Gower, London: Bell and Daldy […]: “And than he shall be riched ſo, That it…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reǵ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs‘to straighten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃rḗǵsWiktionary, English rich‘king’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*rīxsWiktionary, English rich‘king’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīksWiktionary, English rich‘king’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīkijazWiktionary, English rich‘kingly’reconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rīkīWiktionary, English rich‘powerful’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150rīċeWiktionary, English rich‘powerful’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500richeWiktionary, English rich‘strong’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1386–1390richWiktionary, English rich. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1386–1390, John Gower, London: Bell and Daldy […]: “And than he shall be riched ſo, That it…”

The story

Reinforced by Old French riche, from the same West Germanic source.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with rich, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’

  • right ← reȝt ← reht ← *reht ← *rehtaz
  • director ← directeur ← dīrēctōrem ← dīrēctus ← dīrigō
  • source ← sours ← sorse ← surgō ← surrigō
  • region ← regioun ← regiun ← regiō ← regō
  • regular ← reguler ← reguler ← rēgulāris ← rēgula
  • rule ← reule ← riule ← regula ← regō
  • direction ← direccioun ← direccion ← dīrēctiō ← dīrigō
  • address ← adressen ← adrecier ← drecier ← *dīrēctiāre
  • direct ← dīrēctus ← dīrigō ← regō ← *regō
  • correct ← correctus
  • dress ← dressen ← dresser ← *dīrēctiāre ← dīrēctus
  • rank ← ranc ← *rankaz

143 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Wealthy: having a lot of money and possessions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rich”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs. 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 *h₃reǵ- / rich