Etymograph

English

rouse

Rouse comes from Middle English rousen ‘of a hawk: to shake its feathers’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rousen1‘of a hawk: to shake its feathers’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1531rouse1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rouse, which cites OED
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Auncient Huntyng of Greekes and Romanes: “[I]f they wold vſe but a fewe nombre of…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rousenWiktionary, English rouse, which cites OED‘of a hawk: to shake its feathers’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1531rouseWiktionary, English rouse, which cites OED. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Auncient Huntyng of Greekes and Romanes: “[I]f they wold vſe but a fewe nombre of…”

Every English word from Middle English rousen

Today it means

verb To cause (something) to be (more) active or to move; to agitate, to stir up.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rouse”. 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 rousen / rouse

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