Where does “rail” come from?

rail (Middle English) comes from Old English regol, from Latin rēgula, from Latin -ula, from Proto-Indo-European -tlom, from Proto-Indo-European -trom, from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Ancestry of “rail”, step by step

rail traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Old English regol

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishregola rule; a ruler
2Latinrēgularule, bar
3Latin-ularegō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;...
4Proto-Indo-European-tlomAlternative form of *-trom
5Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
6Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

via Old English hræġl

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishhræġlgarment, dress, robe

via Old French reille

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchreille—

Words derived from “rail”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →Every word from Latin -ula →Every word from Latin rēgula →