Where does “rearguard” come from?
Rearguard comes from Middle English reren, from Old French rer, from Latin radere meaning to scratch or scrape, with the re- prefix from Proto-Indo-European rei-, wert-, and wer-.
rearguard (English): The rearmost part of a force, especially a...
Definitions
- The rearmost part of a force, especially a...
Ancestry of “rearguard”, step by step
rearguard traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English guard
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | guard | A person who, or thing that, protects or watches... |
| 2 | Middle English | garde | guardianship, safeguarding, covering, authority;... |
| 3 | Old French | guarde | protection; act of protecting; guard; inflection... |
| 4 | Old French | guarder | to protect; to guard; to look at |
| 5 | Frankish | wardēn | to protect; to guard, protect, watch over; to... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wardāną | to guard, protect, watch over |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *warduz | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wēr- | true |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |
via English rear
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | rear | To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to... |
| 2 | Middle English | reren | To raise; to hold or pull up or suspend upwards;... |
| 3 | Old English | rǣran | to cause to rise, raise, rear, build, create; to... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | raizijaną | to cause to rise; raise |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | rīsaną | to scale; move vertically; to rise |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁rey- | to arise, arise; to rise, arise; to rise; arise |