Etymograph

English

ridding

Ridding comes from Old English hryding ‘a clearing, a patch of cleared land’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *hreuþaną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hreuþaną1‘to make room, clear, empty’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150hryding2‘a clearing, a patch of cleared land’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riddyng2
  4. Englishtodayridding2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English hryding
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ridding

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hreuþanąWiktionary, Old English hryding‘to make room, clear, empty’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrydingWiktionary, English ridding‘a clearing, a patch of cleared land’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riddyngWiktionary, English ridding
  4. EnglishtodayriddingWiktionary, English ridding

Formed from rid + -ing

Middle English ridden ‘to clear, free, relieve’

English rid

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’

short, across, share, card, cross, cancer, screen, score, shirt, circle, circuit, crucial, curve, scare, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, scar, cancellation, crest, circa, scrutiny, corona, shear, scorpion, shred, carnage, shrine, incarceration, raffle, circulate, corolla, scorn, shrewd, crux, shard, carcinoma, carnal, 117 more

through Old English hryding ‘a clearing, a patch of cleared land’

riddance

Today it means

noun an area of land which has been cleared of trees, an assart

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ridding”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English hryding. 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-Germanic *hreuþaną / ridding

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