An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/roh

by Friedrich Kluge

roh, adj., ‘rude, raw, crude, rough,’ from MidHG. rô (infl. râwer), OHG. rô (insl. râwêr), ‘raw, uncooked, rude’ (for earlier hrū̆wa-); comp. the equiv. OSax. hrâ, Du. raauw, AS. hreá, E. raw, OIc. hrár (for *hrávr), ‘raw, uncooked.’ This adj., which is wanting in Goth. (*hrawa-, *hrêwa-), points to a Teut. root hrū̆, from pre-Teut. krū̆, which appears in numerous forms, such as Lat. cruor, cruentas, crûdus (for *cruvidus?), Gr. κρέας, ‘flesh,’ Sans. kravis, ‘raw meat,’ Sans. krûras, ‘bloody,’ OSlov. krŭvi, Lith. kraújas, ‘blood.’