Etymology dictionary

ruthless (adj.) — rye (n.)

ruthless (adj.)

early 14c., reutheles, "pitiless, merciless, devoid of compassion," from reuthe "pity, compassion" (see ruth) + -less.

Ruthful "pitiable, lamentable, causing ruth" (c. 1200) has fallen from use since late 17c. except as a deliberate archaism, perhaps in part because it had a conflicting sense of "compassionate, tender-hearted, full of ruth." Ruthness "compassion, pity" (early 14c.) died even younger. Related: Ruthlessly; ruthlessness.

rutter (n.)

c. 1500, "trooper, dragoon, horse-soldier," from Old French routier "a highwayman," also "experienced soldier," a word taken into Old French from Medieval Latin ruptarius, rutarius, a name for a band of irregular soldiers or mercenaries, from Vulgar Latin rupta "a dispersed group," literally "a broken group," from noun use of Latin rupta, fem. past participle of rumpere "to break" (see rupture (n.)).

The French word also is the source of Dutch ruiter, German Reuter "trooper, horseman." In French partly conformed to route, and in German to Reiter "rider;" Ritter "knight." Related: Rutterkin "swaggering gallant, bully" (1520s).

ruttish (adj.)

"lustful, lascivious, libidinous," c. 1600 (Shakespeare); see rut (n.2) + -ish.

Ruy Lopez (n.)

type of chess opening, 1876, from Ruy López de Segura (fl. 1560), Spanish bishop and writer on chess, who developed it.

RV (n.)

short for recreational vehicle, by 1967.

Rwanda

African nation, by 1834, Ruanda, probably via French, named for indigenous people there, whose word for themselves is of unknown origin. The spelling with -w- seems to have predominated after c. 1970.

-ry

reduced form of -ery.

rye (n.)

type of cereal plant widely cultivated in central and northern Europe, Old English ryge, from Proto-Germanic *ruig (source also of Old Saxon roggo, Old Norse rugr, Old Frisian rogga, Middle Dutch rogghe, Old High German rocko, German Roggen), related to or from Balto-Slavic words (such as Old Church Slavonic ruži, Russian rozh' "rye;" Lithuanian rugys "grain of rye," plural rugiai), from a European PIE root *wrughyo- "rye."

It makes the black bread of Germany and Russia; hence rye, short for rye-bread, by 1941 in U.S. restaurant jargon. The roast grains also were formerly used as a coffee substitute. It makes kvass in Russia, gin in Holland, and much whiskey in the U.S., hence the general meaning "whiskey" (made from rye), attested by 1835. Rye-bread "bread made from rye flour" is attested from mid-15c.

The rye of Exodus ix.32, etc. probably is spelt. In German peasant folklore the Roggenwolf ("rye-wolf") was a malignant spirit supposed to haunt rye-fields.