Etymograph

English

rumspringa

Rumspringa comes from Pennsylvania German rumschpringe ‘to jump around’.

  1. Pennsylvania Germanmodernrumschpringe1as rumspringe‘to jump around’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2007rumspringa1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rumspringa
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Tom Shachtman, Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish: “At stake for the Amish community in the rumspringa…”.

Lineage

  1. Pennsylvania GermanmodernrumschpringeWiktionary, English rumspringaas rumspringe‘to jump around’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2007rumspringaWiktionary, English rumspringa. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Tom Shachtman, Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish: “At stake for the Amish community in the rumspringa…”

Every English word from Pennsylvania German rumschpringe

Today it means

noun A period of adolescence for some members of the Amish that begins around the age of 14–16 and ends when a youth chooses baptism within the Amish church or instead leaves the community.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rumspringa”. 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 / Pennsylvania German rumschpringe / rumspringa

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