Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/307

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“dicti quidam praedones sub XI. saeculum ex rusticis collecti ac conflati qui provincias populabantur et interdum militiae principum sese addicebant”: “these people were often on horseback.” Thus Du. ruiter could easily acquire the meaning ‘horseman’; comp. Du. ruiten, ‘to plunder.’ See Rotte.

Rhabarber, m., ‘rhubarb,’ ModHG. only, from Ital. rabarbaro, Fr. rhubarbe; also earlier ModHG. Rhapontif, from Fr. rapontique. The word is based on the MidLat. ra-, reu-ponticum, -barbarum, also radix pontica, -barbara, ‘a plant growing on the banks of the Volga.’

Rhede, f., ‘roadstead, road,’ ModHG. only, from LG.; comp. Du. ree, reede, MidE. râde, E. road; from the E. class are derived the equiv. Ital. rada and Fr. rade. Orig. sense probably ‘place where ships are equipped’; allied to the Teut. root raid, ‘to prepare’; comp. OIc. reiðe, ‘ship's equipment.’ See bereit.

ribbeln, vb., ‘to rub briskly, scour,’ ModHG. only, intensive of reiben.

richten, vb., ‘to regulate, direct, judge, condemn,’ from MidHG. and OHG. rihten, ‘to set right,’ denomin. from recht.

Ricke, f., ‘doe,’ by chance not recorded only in ModHG.; MidHG. *riche and OHG. *riccha are wanting, but may be assumed from the archaic form of ModHG. Ricke (Swiss rikχe). In Goth. *rikki, ‘doe,’ would be a derivative fem. form of Reh (raiha-).

riechen, vb., ‘to smell,’ from MidHG. riechen, OHG. riohhan, str. vb., ‘to smoke, steam, emit vapour, smell’; comp. Du. ruiken, rieken, ‘to smell,’ AS. reócan, ‘to smoke, emit vapour,’ OIc. rjúka, ‘to smoke, exhale.’ The Teut. root rū̆k signified ‘to smoke’; see further under Rauch and Geruch. In the non-Teut. languages the stem is not found.

Riefe, f., ‘furrow in wood, stone, &c.,’ ModHG. only, from LG.; comp. AS. geriflian, ‘to wrinkle,’ with which E. rifle, lit. ‘the fluted weapon,’ and rivel, ‘wrinkle, fold,’ are connected. OIc. rifa, f., ‘slit, rift,’ allied to OIc. rífa, ‘to tear to pieces, slit.’

Riege, f., ‘row,’ from MidHG. rige, OHG. rī̆ga, f., ‘line, row’ (Goth. *riga, f., is wanting); allied to Reihe, OHG. rîhan, ‘to form in a row.’ From G. are derived Ital. riga, ‘line, strip,’ and rigoletto, ‘chain-dance.’

Riegel, m., ‘rail, bar, bolt,’ from MidHG. rigel, OHG. rigil, m., ‘crossbar for fastening’; corresponding to MidE. and

E. rail, Du. and Swed. regel, ‘bolt.’ It is scarcely allied to OHG. rîhan, ‘to form in a row.’

Riemen, m., ‘strap, thong, strong,’ from MidHG. rieme, OHG. riomo, m., ‘band, girdle, strap’; corresponding to OSax. riomo, m., Du. riem, AS. reóma, ‘strap’; Goth. *riuma, m., is wanting. Gr. ῥῦμα, ‘towing-line, rope,’ is primit. allied, and hence the Aryan root was probably rū̆ (Gr. ἐρύω), ‘to draw.’

Ries, n., ‘ream,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. ris (riȥ, rist), m., f. and n.; in Du. riem, E. ream. These late Teut. cognates are borrowed from Rom.; comp. the equiv. MidLat. and Ital. risma, Fr. rame. It is true that the MidHG. form still requires further explanation. The ultimate source of MidLat. and Ital. risma is Arab. rizma, ‘bale, bundle,’ espec. ‘packing-paper.’

Riese, m., ‘giant,’ from the equiv. MidHG. rise, OHG. risi, riso, m.; comp. OSax. wrisi-lîc, ‘gigantic,’ OLG. wrisil, Du. reus, ‘giant.’ Goth. *wrisi-, or rather *wrisjan-, is wanting. It seems primit. allied to Sans. vṛšan, ‘mighty, manly, strong,’ to which OIr. fairsing, ‘great, powerful,’ is also probably akin.

Riester, m.,. ‘wrist, instep, patch (on a shoe),’ ModHG. only; probably a primit. word, but of obscure origin. This word, which is unknown to Bav., has, according to Swiss riešter, rieštere, m. and f., a genuine diphthong equiv. to Goth. iu; hence MidHG. altriuȥe, riuȥe, ‘cobbler,’ preserved in ModHG. dials. as Altreise, ‘second-hand dealer,’ is perhaps allied.

Rießling, m., ‘small white field-grape,’ ModHG. only; perhaps a derivative of Rieß, ‘Rhætia’ (Tyrol), so that Rießling is lit. ‘Rhætian’ (wine).

Riet (in the LG. form Nied), n., ‘reed,’ from the equiv. MidHG. riet, OHG. riot, earlier hriot, n.; common to West Teut. in the same sense; comp. OSax. hreod, Du. riet, AS. hreód, E. reed. Goth. *hriuda is wanting. Pre-Teut. *kreudho- is not found in the other groups.

Riff, n., ‘reef,’ ModHG. only, from LG. riff, reff; comp. the equiv. Du. rif, n., E. reef, and OIc. rif. The latter is equiv. in sound to Goth. rif, ‘rib,’ but this is probably only an accident. It has been thought to be allied to OIc. rífa, ‘to slit, split,’ rifa, ‘rift, split’; hence probably Riff means lit. ‘the dissevered, cleft, mass of rock,’ then ‘reef.’