English
robbery
Robbery comes from Old French rober ‘to steal’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to break, tear (up)’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-1‘to break, tear (up)’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubōną1‘to rob, steal, plunder’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*raubōn1reconstructed
- Late Latinmodernraubāre1
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rober1‘to steal’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roberie1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500robberie1
- Englishtodayrobbery1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English robbery
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-Wiktionary, English robbery‘to break, tear (up)’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raubōnąWiktionary, English robbery‘to rob, steal, plunder’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*raubōnWiktionary, English robberyreconstructed
- Late LatinmodernraubāreWiktionary, English robbery
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roberWiktionary, English robbery‘to steal’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roberieWiktionary, English robbery
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500robberieWiktionary, English robbery
- EnglishtodayrobberyWiktionary, English robbery
Equivalent to rob + -ery
Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to snatch’
…
Frankish *raubōn
Late Latin raubō
Anglo-Norman rober
Middle English robben ‘to steal, rob’
English rob
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to break, tear (up)’
route, corruption, corrupt, disrupt, eruption, rupture, rout, erupt, robe, reaver, 22 more
through Proto-Germanic *raubōną ‘to rob, steal, plunder’
through Frankish *raubōn
Today it means
noun The act or practice of robbing.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “robbery”. 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 *Hrewp- / robbery