Etymograph

English

rory

Rory comes from Latin rōs ‘dew’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rṓs.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rṓs1‘dew, moisture’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rōs1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErōs2‘dew’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1600rory2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ros
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rory
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1600, Edward Fairfax, Jerusalem Delivered: “On Libanon at first his foot he set, And…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rṓsWiktionary, Latin ros‘dew, moisture’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rōsWiktionary, Latin rosreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErōsWiktionary, English rory‘dew’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1600roryWiktionary, English rory. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1600, Edward Fairfax, Jerusalem Delivered: “On Libanon at first his foot he set, And…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- ‘to flow, pour’

error, err, erratic, errant, rishi, errata, 20 more

through Latin rōs ‘dew’

rouse, 9 more

Today it means

adj Covered by dew.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rory”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ros. 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 *h₁rṓs / rory

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