Where does “rough-and-tumble” come from?
rough-and-tumble (English) comes from English rough, from English ruff, from German Ruf, from Middle High German ruof, from Old High German ruof, from Old High German ruofan, from Proto-West Germanic hrōpan, from Proto-Germanic hrōpaną — army.
rough-and-tumble (English): active, vigorous and rough, with the possibility...
Definitions
- active, vigorous and rough, with the possibility...
Ancestry of “rough-and-tumble”, step by step
rough-and-tumble traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English rough
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | rough | Not smooth; uneven; Approximate; hasty or... |
| 2 | English | ruff | A circular frill or ruffle on a garment,... |
| 3 | German | Ruf | call; reputation |
| 4 | Middle High German | ruof | — |
| 5 | Old High German | ruof | — |
| 6 | Old High German | ruofan | to call |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | hrōpan | to cry out, to call, to shout |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | hrōpaną | to cry out, call, shout |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |
via English tumble
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | tumble | A fall, especially end over end; A disorderly... |
| 2 | Middle English | tumblen | to fall over and over again, tumble |
| 3 | Middle English | tumben | to fall, tumble; Alternative form of tomben |
| 4 | Anglo-Norman | toumber | to fall |
| 5 | Old French | tumber | to fall |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | tūmōną | to rotate; spin; revolve |