ruck

ruck · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hraukaz“haystack, heap”
2. Old Norse · derived fromhraukr
3. Middle English · inherited fromruke
4. English todayruck

From Middle English ruke, from or related to Old Norse hraukr, which is from Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“haystack, heap”). Compare Icelandic hrúka, Swedish ruka.

ruck · verb, noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*(s)ker-“to turn, bend”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hrunkijō
3. Old Norse · derived fromhrukka“wrinkle, crease”
4. English todayruck

1780, from Old Norse hrukka (“wrinkle, crease”), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō (“fold, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Akin to Icelandic hrukka (“wrinkle, crease, ruck”), Old High German runza (“fold, wrinkle, crease”), German Runzel (“wrinkle”), Middle Dutch ronse (“frown”). More at frounce. Possibly related to Irish roc.

ruck · verb³

Compare Danish ruge (“to brood, to hatch”), itself related to Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“heap, stack”).

ruck · noun, verb⁴

Clipping of rucksack.

Ruck · proper noun⁵

* As a German surname, from the noun Rücken (“back”). * Also as a German surname, shortened from derivatives of Rüdiger. * As an English surname, variant of Rook, itself from the noun rook (“type of crow”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 16th c. A throng or crowd of people or things; a mass, a pack.
• from 20th c. The situation formed when a player carrying the ball is brought to the ground and one or more members of each side are engaged above the ball, trying to win possession of it; a loose scrum.
• from 19th c. The common mass of people or things; the ordinary ranks.