The story
- Middle French · derived fromrous
- Middle French · derived fromrosset
- Anglo-Norman · derived fromrusset
- Middle English · inherited fromrusset
- English todayrusset
From Middle English russet, from Anglo-Norman russet, rossat, roset, and Middle French rosset, rousset (“reddish, reddish-brown; a rough wool cloth”), from Middle French rous, rus (“to rouse”) + -et (diminutive suffix); compare Late Latin rossetum, russetum, russeta (“rough wool cloth”), Latin russus (“red”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”)), Occitan rosseta (“rough wool cloth”).
Words from the same roots
Middle Frenchrous all →
rouse
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.