Etymology

rainbow

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Today it means: A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air. Full definition →

Middle English reynbowe ← Old English reġnboga ← Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō
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rainbow · noun, adjective, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*Hréǵʰ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*Hréǵʰnos?
  3. Proto-Germanic*regną
  4. Proto-Indo-European*bʰewgʰ-
  5. Proto-Germanic*bugô
  6. Proto-Germanic*regnabugô
  7. Proto-West Germanic*regnabogō
  8. Old Englishreġnboga
  9. Middle Englishreynbowe
  10. English todayrainbow

Inherited from Middle English reynbowe, from Old English reġnboga, from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô, from *regną (“rain”) + *bugô (“bow”). By surface analysis, rain + bow (“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge (“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog (“rainbow”), German Regenbogen (“rainbow”), Danish regnbue (“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge (“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi (“rainbow”).

Rainbow · noun2

From rainbow.

Rainbow · proper noun3

  1. German · derived fromRegenbogen
  2. English todayRainbow

Two main origins: * From an altered form of the Old French personal name Rainbaut, which is composed of the Proto-Germanic elements *raginą (“advice, counsel”) and *balþaz (“strong, bold”). * Translation of German Regenbogen, a Jewish Ashkenazi ornamental surname.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.