The story
- Old English · inherited fromhrūxlian
- Middle English · inherited fromrustelen
- English todayrustle
From Middle English rustelen, russelen, of uncertain origin, but probably from Old English hrūxlian, hristlan, hrystlan, hristlian (“to make a noise”). Compare also Scots reesle (“to crackle; rattle; rustle”), West Frisian risselje, Dutch ritselen (“to rustle”), Afrikaans ritsel (“to rustle”), German rascheln (“to rustle”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.