Where does “rummage” come from?
Rummage comes from Old French arrumage, the noun form of Old French arrumer, meaning to stow cargo in a ship's hold.
rummage (English): To arrange in the hold of a ship; to move or...
Definitions
- To arrange in the hold of a ship; to move or...
Ancestry of “rummage”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | ronage | Accommodation or arrangement of cargo in a ship, stowage |
| 2 | Old French | arrumage | — |
| 3 | Old French | arrumer | to arrange the cargo in the hold |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | ruum | — |
| 5 | Old Dutch | rūm | roomy, spacious |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | rūm | roomy, spacious; room, open space |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | rūmaz | roomy, spacious, open |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | rewh₁- | free space |