rifle

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*rīfaną
2. Old High German · derived fromriffilōn
3. Old French · derived fromrifler“to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder”
4. Middle English · derived fromriflen“to rob, plunder, search through”
5. English todayrifle

Originally short for “rifled gun”, referring to the spiral grooves inside the barrel. From Middle English riflen (“to rob, plunder, search through”), from Old French rifler (“to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder”), from Old High German riffilōn (compare German riffeln (“to score, make grooves in, ripple”), archaic Dutch rijfelen (“to scrape”), Old English rifelan, riflian (“to wrinkle”)), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (compare Old Norse rífa (“to tear, break”)). More at rive.

Words from the same roots