Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rocket” come from?

Rocket comes from Italian rocchetta, from Italian rocca, diminished by Italian -etta, from Latin eruca, from Gothic rukka, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots ǵʰers- and rukn-.

rocket (English): A rocket engine; A non-guided missile propelled...

Definitions

  1. A rocket engine; A non-guided missile propelled...

Ancestry of “rocket”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchroquetterocket; rocket ; arugula
2Italianrocchettaincendiary rocket
3Italianrocchettospool; reel; coil
4Italian-ettoAlterative suffix used to form melioratives,...
5English-etUsed to form diminutives, loosely construed
6Middle English-etForms diminutive nouns from nouns; in some words,...
7Old French-etUsed to form a diminutive, masculine noun;...
8Latin-ātus—
9Proto-Italic-ātos—
10Proto-Indo-European-éh₂tos—

Words derived from “rocket”

  • skyrocket
  • rocketry
  • rocketship
  • retrorocket
  • rocketeer
  • rocketlike
  • rocketer
  • rocketman
  • turborocket
  • antirocket
  • rocketborne
  • rocketless
  • rocket launcher
  • hybrid rocket
  • solid rocket
  • chemical rocket
  • liquid rocket
  • searocket
  • Rocketshipper
  • rocketpunk
  • rocket docket
  • ロケット
  • 로켓
  • roket
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂tos →