Etymograph

English

rigid

Rigid comes from Latin rigidus ‘stiff’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyǵ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rigēō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigeō1‘to be stiff’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigidus1‘stiff’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rigide1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2011rigid1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rigid
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, David Foster Wallace, The Pale King: “A sunflower, four more, one bowed, and horses in…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyǵ-Wiktionary, English rigidreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rigēōWiktionary, English rigidreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigeōWiktionary, English rigid‘to be stiff’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErigidusWiktionary, English rigid‘stiff’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rigideWiktionary, English rigid
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2011rigidWiktionary, English rigid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, David Foster Wallace, The Pale King: “A sunflower, four more, one bowed, and horses in…”

The story

Merged with Middle English rigged, rygged, rugged (“upright like a spine, rigid”, literally “ridged”).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ-

reach, irrigation, rigorous, rigor, 7 more

through Latin rigeō ‘to be stiff’

rigour, 3 more

Today it means

adj Stiff, rather than flexible.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rigid”. 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 *Hreyǵ- / rigid

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