Etymology

RPG

R1P3G2

Today it means: To play a roleplaying game. Full definition →

Russian РПГ
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The story

  1. Russian · derived fromРПГ
  2. English todayRPG

Initialism. When applied to a "rocket-propelled grenade" it derives from Russian РПГ (RPG), initialism of ручно́й противота́нковый гранатомёт (ručnój protivotánkovyj granatomjót, “hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher”), of which "rocket-propelled grenade" is a backronym (though an accurate description of the weapon system).

Words from the same roots

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.