The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁reh₁s-
- Proto-Germanic*rēsō
- Proto-West Germanic*rās
- Old Englishrǣs
- Proto-Germanic*rēsō
- Old Norserás
- Middle Englishrace
- Englishrace
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰéydt
- Proto-Germanic*bītaną
- Proto-Germanic*baitijaną
- Old Norsebeita
- Middle Englishbayte
- Englishbait
- English todayrace-bait
From race + -bait (manipulation to elicit a particular response).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.