Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rooster” come from?

Rooster comes from English roost with the agent suffix -er, from Old French -er, from Latin -āre and -ārius, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European reus-.

rooster (English): A male domestic chicken or other gallinaceous...

Definitions

  1. A male domestic chicken or other gallinaceous...

Ancestry of “rooster”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishroostThe place where a bird sleeps; A group of birds...
2Middle Englishrosteroost, perch; A roast; a piece of roasted meat;...
3Old Frenchrost—
4Old Frenchrostirto roast; to torture by subjecting to fire
5Frankishrōstjanto roast
6Proto-Germanicraustijanąto roast
7Proto-Indo-European*Hrews-—

Words derived from “rooster”

  • roosterfish
  • roostertail
  • roosterish
  • roosterness
  • roosterly
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *Hrews- →