Etymology

rebel

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Today it means: A person who resists an established authority, often violently. Full definition →

Middle English rebel ← Old French rebelle ← Latin rebellis
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rebel · noun1

  1. Latin · derived fromrebellis“waging war again; insurgent”
  2. Old French · derived fromrebelle
  3. Middle English · inherited fromrebel
  4. English todayrebel

From Middle English rebel, rebell, from Old French rebelle, from Latin rebellis (“waging war again; insurgent”), from rebellō (“to wage war again, fight back”), from re- (“again, back”) + bellō (“to wage war”).

rebel · verb2

  1. Latin · derived fromrebellō“to wage war again, fight back”
  2. Old French · derived fromrebeller
  3. Middle English · inherited fromrebellen
  4. English todayrebel

From Middle English rebellen, from Old French rebeller, from Latin rebellō (“to wage war again, fight back”), from re- (“again, back”) + bellō (“to wage war”). Doublet of revel.

Rebel · noun3

From rebel.

Rebel · proper noun4

  1. German · borrowed fromRebel
  2. German · borrowed fromRebel
  3. English todayRebel

Borrowed from German Rebel.

Words from the same roots

Latinrebellis all →

revel

Latinrebellō all →

revel

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.