Etymograph

English

rough

Rough comes from Old English rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz ‘rough, hairy’, whose earlier origin is uncertain.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rūhaz1‘rough, hairy’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rūh1‘rough’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rough1‘rough’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1633rough1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rough
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1633, Phineas Fletcher: “In calms you fish; in roughs use songs and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rūhazWiktionary, English rough‘rough, hairy’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rūhWiktionary, English rough‘rough’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500roughWiktionary, English rough‘rough’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1633roughWiktionary, English rough. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1633, Phineas Fletcher: “In calms you fish; in roughs use songs and…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with rough, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Germanic *rūhaz

  • roach ← roche ← roche ← roche ← *rūh

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Not smooth; uneven.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rough”. 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-Germanic *rūhaz / rough