Etymograph

English

rusty

Rusty comes from Middle English rusty ‘rusty, rusted’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *rustagaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rustagaz1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rūstiġ1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rusty1‘rusty, rusted’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1855rusty1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rusty
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came: “Alive? he might be dead for aught I know,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rustagazWiktionary, English rustyreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rūstiġWiktionary, English rusty
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rustyWiktionary, English rusty‘rusty, rusted’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1855rustyWiktionary, English rusty. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came: “Alive? he might be dead for aught I know,…”

Formed from rust + -y

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- ‘red’

…

Proto-Germanic *rustaz

Proto-West Germanic *rust

Old English rust

Middle English rust

English rust

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *rustagaz

Today it means

adj Marked or corroded by rust.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rusty”. 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 *rustagaz / rusty

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