rubble

The story

1. Old French · derived fromrobe
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*rubbōną“to rub, scrape”
3. Old Norse · derived fromrubba“to huddle, crowd together, heap up", possibly also "to rub, scrape”
4. Anglo-Norman · derived from*robel“bits of broken stone”
5. Middle English · inherited fromrouble, rubel, robel, robeil
6. English todayrubble

Inherited from Middle English rouble, rubel, robel, robeil, from Anglo-Norman *robel (“bits of broken stone”). Presumably related to rubbish, originally of same meaning (waste material, bits of stone, rubble). Ultimately presumably from Old Norse rubba (“to huddle, crowd together, heap up", possibly also "to rub, scrape”), from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną (“to rub, scrape”), related to Proto-Germanic *reufaną (“to tear”), *raubōną (“to rob, steal, plunder”), perhaps via Old French robe (English rob (“steal”)) in sense of “plunder, destroy”; see also Middle English, Middle French -el.

Words from the same roots