Etymology

rathe

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Today it means: Ripening or blooming early. Full definition →

Middle English rathe ← Old English hraþe ← Proto-West Germanic *hraþō
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rathe · adjective, adverb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kret-“quick; to move quickly”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hraþō
  3. Old English · inherited fromhraþe
  4. Middle English · inherited fromrathe
  5. English todayrathe

From Middle English rathe, from Old English hraþe, from Proto-West Germanic *hraþō, *hradō (“quickly”), from *hraþ, *hrad (“quick”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kret- (“quick; to move quickly”). Cognate with German Low German radd, ratt (“rashly; quickly; hastily”), and German gerade (“now, just, exactly”); compare Dutch rad (“quick, swift”), Norwegian rad (“quick, direct”), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌹𐌶𐌰 (raþiza, “easier”).

Rathe · proper noun2

* As a German surname, variant of Rath. * As a southern German surname, from a pet form of the name Konrad. * As a French surname, variant of Ratte.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*kret- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.