Etymograph

English

rin

Rin comes from Old English rinnan ‘to run’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- ‘to undulate, churn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reyH-1‘to undulate, churn’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rinnaną2‘to run’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rinnan2‘to run’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rinnen2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1836rin2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *rinnaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rin
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1836, Allan Cunningham, Lord Roldan: “"Besides," he continued, "I'm no sure that I'm right…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reyH-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *rinnaną‘to undulate, churn’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rinnanąWiktionary, English rin‘to run’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rinnanWiktionary, English rin‘to run’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rinnenWiktionary, English rin
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1836rinWiktionary, English rin. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1836, Allan Cunningham, Lord Roldan: “"Besides," he continued, "I'm no sure that I'm right…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- ‘to undulate, churn’

ride, raid, riding, rival, derivative, irritable, derivation, irritate, ritter, ria, overridden, 12 more

through Old English rinnan ‘to run’

earn, ern, 2 more

Today it means

verb To run.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rin”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *rinnaną. 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 *h₃reyH- / rin

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