Etymograph

English

ruth

Ruth comes from Middle English reuþe ‘Pitifulness’, and goes back to rewe ‘rue’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rewe1‘rue’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reuþe2as ruthe‘Pitifulness’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1575ruth2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English reuþe
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ruth
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, The Hare, to the Hunter: “The dead mans corps hath made ſome Serpents weépe,…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reweWiktionary, Middle English reuþe‘rue’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reuþeWiktionary, English ruthas ruthe‘Pitifulness’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1575ruthWiktionary, English ruth. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, The Hare, to the Hunter: “The dead mans corps hath made ſome Serpents weépe,…”

The story

From Middle English ruthe, reuthe, reuþe, reowthe, rewthe (‘compassion, pity, sympathy; mercy; grief, sorrow; cause or event of pity or sorrow; lamentation; calamity, trouble; distress; regret, remorse; cruelty, ill treatment’), from reu, reuen (‘to feel compassion or pity; to regret, rue; etc.’) + -th, -the (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc.), possibly influenced by an early Scandinavian language (compare Old Norse hrygð, hryggð (‘affliction, grief, sorrow, ruth’), from the Proto-Germanic word indicated below). Reuen is derived from Old English hrēowan (‘to grieve; to regret, rue; to repent’), from Proto-West Germanic *hreuwan (‘to cause pain; to regret’), from Proto-Germanic *hrewwaną (‘to cause regret, rue; to feel sorrow, grieve’); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *krew(H)-, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (‘blood’) and *krows- (‘to fall, beat, break, bruise’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Middle English rewe ‘rue’

row, rue, ruefully, 7 more

Today it means

noun Sorrow for the misery of another person; compassion, mercy, pity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ruth”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English reuþe. 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 rewe / ruth

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