Etymologically
Log in

rapid

Etymology and origin of the English word rapid

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1634
Borrowed from
French rapide
Ultimate origin
Latin (rapere)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈræp.ɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French rapide and directly from Latin rapidus (“hasty, swift, snatching”),[2][3][4] from rapere (“to seize, carry off, hurry away”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *rep- (“to snatch”).[2][3] It is related to the verb rape.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moving with great speed, swift: 1634 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1630s in Etymonline.[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Quick in action is from 1791,[6] and happening in a short time from 1780.[6][2] The noun rapids, a fast-flowing part of a river, is from the 18th century, 1744 in MWU.[7][5] Rapid-transit is from 1852, for street railways,[2] and rapid-fire, of guns, from 1890.[2] Rapid eye movement in sleep is from 1916.[6]

Timeline

  • 1634 – swift.[6]
  • 1744 – rapids.[7]
  • 1780 – happening quickly.[6]
  • 1852 – rapid transit.[2]
  • 1890 – rapid-fire.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Happening in a short time; quick.
  2. Moving or acting with great speed.

Noun

  1. (usually rapids) A part of a river where the water flows very fast over rocks.

Word family

  • rapidity
  • rapidly
  • rapidness
  • rapid-fire
  • ultrarapid
  • rapid eye movement
  • rapid transit

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Rapid.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/rapid. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·