Etymograph

English

rut

Rut comes from Old French rut ‘noise, roar, bellowing’, from Latin rugītus ‘roaring’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *rougiō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rougiō1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErugiō2as rugīre‘to roar’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErugītus2‘roaring’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rut2‘noise, roar, bellowing’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rutte2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1700rut2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin rugio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rut
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1700, John Dryden, Cinyras and Myrrha, out of the Tenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorp: “VVhat Piety forbids the luſty Ram / Or more…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rougiōWiktionary, Latin rugioreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErugiōWiktionary, English rutas rugīre‘to roar’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErugītusWiktionary, English rut‘roaring’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rutWiktionary, English rut‘noise, roar, bellowing’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rutteWiktionary, English rut
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1700rutWiktionary, English rut. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1700, John Dryden, Cinyras and Myrrha, out of the Tenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorp: “VVhat Piety forbids the luſty Ram / Or more…”

Every English word from Proto-Italic *rougiō

Another origin of rut

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400routeuncertain
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600route‘road’uncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500routeuncertain
  4. Englishtodayrut

Today it means

noun Sexual desire in any of many mammals, often specific to mating season; the state or season in which this is experienced.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rut”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin rugio. 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-Italic *rougiō / rut

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