An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Ruder

by Friedrich Kluge

Ruder, n,‘oar, rudder,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ruoder, Old High German ruodar, neuter; corresponding to the equivalent Dutch roer, Anglo-Saxon rôþer, English rudder (Gothic *rôþr, neuter, ‘oar,’ is by chance not recorded); in Old Icelandic with a different suffix rœðe, neuter, ‘oar,’ while róðr, masculine, signifies ‘rowing.’ Gothic *rô-þra-, ‘oar,’ belongs to Anglo-Saxon rôwan, strong verb, English to row, Old Icelandic róa, Dutch roeijen, Middle High German rüejen, ruon, all of which signify ‘to row.’ The Teutonic root rô appears with the same meaning in the other Aryan languages, as rô, rē̆, er, ar; compare Old Irish rám, Latin rê-mus, ‘oar’ (ratis, ‘raft’), Greek ἐ-ρέ-της, ‘rower,’ τρι-ήρης, ‘trireme’; ἐρετμός, ‘oar,’ Sanscrit arítra-s, ‘oar’; also the Aryan root rê, ‘to push,’ in Old Slovenian rinąti, rějati, ‘to push,’ Sanscrit ar, ‘to drive.’ Moreover, English oar, from Anglo-Saxon âr (Old Icelandic âr) is the relic of another Old Teutonic term (whence Finnish airo, ‘oar’).