rocket

rocket · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*rukkô“a distaff, a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it, used in spinning thread”
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*rokkō
3. Lombardic · derived fromrocko“spinning wheel”
4. Italian · derived fromrocchetta
5. English todayrocket

From Italian rocchetta, from Old Italian rocchetto (“rocket”, literally “a bobbin”), diminutive of rocca (“a distaff”), from Lombardic rocko (“spinning wheel”), from Proto-West Germanic *rokkō, from Proto-Germanic *rukkô (“a distaff, a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it, used in spinning thread”). Cognate with Old High German rocco, rocko, roccho, rocho ("a distaff"; > German Rocken (“a distaff”)), Swedish rock (“a distaff”), Icelandic rokkur (“a distaff”), Middle English rocke (“a distaff”). More at rock⁴. For the meaning development, compare fuselage, ultimately from Latin fūsus (“spindle, spinning wheel”).

rocket · noun²

1. Latin · derived fromeruca
2. Italian · derived fromruchetta
3. French · borrowed fromroquette
4. English todayrocket

Borrowed from French roquette, from Italian ruchetta, diminutive of ruca, from Latin eruca. Cognate to arugula, rucola, eruca, roquette.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 16th c. A cylindrical projectile that can be fired to a great height through combustion, (specifically) a type of firework of this form, typically exploding with light and colour; a skyrocket.
• from 20th c. A long vehicle or craft propelled by a rocket engine; a missile or rocket-propelled spacecraft.
• from 20th c. An engine operating similarly to the pyrotechnic, generating thrust by the expulsion of hot gases; a rocket engine.
• from 20th c. Something that travels high in the air or with great speed; especially (sport), a hard shot.
• from 20th c. A severe reprimand; a telling-off.