English
rugby
Rugby is named after Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, whose name is attested in the Domesday Book as Rocheberie.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English rugby
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2003, B. Lawson Thornton, Misery Loves Company: The Diary of Kerri Mitchell: “I don't know why, but for some reason people…”.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150RocheberieWiktionary, English rugby
- English1500–presentRugbyWiktionary, English rugby
- Englishearliest quotation 2003rugbyWiktionary, English rugby. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2003, B. Lawson Thornton, Misery Loves Company: The Diary of Kerri Mitchell: “I don't know why, but for some reason people…”
The story
The place name Rugby is attested in the Domesday Book as Old English Rocheberie (probably equivalent to rook (‘Corvus frugilegus, a bird of the crow family’) + -by (suffix indicating a village or town)), possibly from *Hrōcebyriġ, dative singular of *Hrōceburh, from hrōc (‘rook’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (‘to crow’)) + burh, burg (‘castle, fort, stronghold; city; town’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (‘hill, mountain; high, lofty; to rise’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ker- ‘army’
harry, caravan, rout, croup, roop, 5 more
through Proto-Indo-European *kreg-
through Old English hrōc ‘rook’
Today it means
noun A form of football in which players can hold or kick an ovoid ball; rugby football. The ball cannot be handled forwards and points are scored by touching the ball to the ground in the area past the opponent's territory or by kicking the ball between goalposts and over a crossbar.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “rugby”. 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 / Old English Rocheberie / rugby