Etymograph

English

roke

Roke comes from Middle English roke ‘fog, vapour, cloud’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500roke1‘fog, vapour, cloud’
  2. Englishtodayroke1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English roke

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rokeWiktionary, English roke‘fog, vapour, cloud’
  2. EnglishtodayrokeWiktionary, English roke

The story

From Middle English roke (‘fog, vapour, cloud’), probably from Old Norse roka ("whirlwind, fine spray"; compare Old Norse særoka (‘seaspray’)), reinforced later by Middle Dutch roke, rooc (‘smoke’), from Old Dutch rouc (‘steam, vapour’), from Proto-Germanic *raukiz (‘smoke’), from Proto-Indo-European *rewg- (‘to erupt, vomit, burp’), from *rew- (‘to roar, growl, grumble’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Middle English roke ‘fog, vapour, cloud’

rook

Today it means

noun Fog, mist; light rain; smoke, vapour; damp.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “roke”. 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 / Middle English roke / roke

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