Etymograph

English

rouge

Rouge comes from French rouge ‘red’, and goes back to Latin rubeus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErubeus1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400roge2
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600rouge2
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentrouge1‘red’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1832rouge1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rouge, which cites OED
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French rouge
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1832, On Eton Games, Continued: “[A] wall [...] against which all those formidable "rouges"…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErubeusWiktionary, English rouge, which cites OED
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rogeWiktionary, French rouge
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600rougeWiktionary, French rouge
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentrougeWiktionary, English rouge, which cites OED‘red’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1832rougeWiktionary, English rouge, which cites OED. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1832, On Eton Games, Continued: “[A] wall [...] against which all those formidable "rouges"…”

The story

The game senses are of unknown origin according to the Oxford English Dictionary.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin rubeus

ruby, 5 more

Today it means

adj Of a reddish pink colour.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rouge”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French rouge. 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 / Latin rubeus / rouge

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