Etymology

rot

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Today it means: To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria. Full definition →

Middle English roten ← Old English rotian ← Proto-West Germanic *rotēn
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*rutāną“to rot”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*rotēn
  3. Old English · inherited fromrotian“to rot, become corrupted, ulcerate, putrefy”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromroten
  5. English todayrot

Inherited from Middle English roten, rotten, from Old English rotian (“to rot, become corrupted, ulcerate, putrefy”), from Proto-West Germanic *rotēn, from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishroten all →

rotten

Proto-Germanic*rutāną all →

rotten

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.