Etymograph

English

rock

Rock comes from Middle English rocke ‘rock formation’, and goes back to Old English *rocc.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*rocc1reconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rocke1‘rock formation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1611rock1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rock
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*roccWiktionary, English rockreconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rockeWiktionary, English rock‘rock formation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1611rockWiktionary, English rock. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art…”

The story

Inherited from Middle English rocke, rokke (‘rock formation’), from Old English *rocc (‘rock’), as in Old English stānrocc (‘high stone rock, peak, obelisk’), and also later from Anglo-Norman roque, (compare Modern French roc, roche, rocher), from Medieval Latin rocca (attested 767), of uncertain origin, sometimes said to be of Celtic (in particular, perhaps Gaulish) origin (compare Breton roc'h).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Related also to Middle Low German rocke (‘rock ledge’). One suggestion is that it derives from Vulgar Latin *rupica, from rupes (compare rupico).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Old English *rocc

Another origin of rock

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃rewk-‘to dig’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ruknéh₂tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rukkōną‘to move, move back and forth, rock’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rokkōnreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150roccian‘to rock’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rokken
  7. Englishtodayrock

Another origin of rock

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500rockeuncertain
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rok
  3. Englishtodayrock

Today it means

noun A formation of minerals, specifically: The naturally occurring aggregate of solid mineral matter that constitutes a significant part of the earth's crust.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rock”. 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 / Old English *rocc / rock

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