rich

rich · adjective, noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₃rḗǵs
2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*rīxs
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*rīks“king, ruler”
4. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*rīkijaz“kingly, powerful, rich”
5. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*rīkī“powerful, rich”
6. Old English · inherited fromrīċe“powerful, mighty, great, high-ranking, rich, wealthy, strong, potent”
7. Middle English · inherited fromriche“strong, powerful, rich”
8. English todayrich

From Middle English riche (“strong, powerful, rich”), from Old English rīċe (“powerful, mighty, great, high-ranking, rich, wealthy, strong, potent”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīkī (“powerful, rich”), from Proto-Germanic *rīkijaz (“kingly, powerful, rich”), from Proto-Germanic *rīks (“king, ruler”), an early borrowing from Proto-Celtic *rīxs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs. Reinforced by Old French riche, from the same West Germanic source. Cognate with Dutch rijk, German reich, Danish rig, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish rik, Faroese and Icelandic ríkur, Portuguese and Spanish rico, French riche, Italian ricco.

Rich · proper noun²

From Richard. The surname also derives from rich as a nickname.

Words from the same roots