rear

Rear, to raise, and rear, the back part, are different words, one Old English and the other from Old French.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /rɪə/, US /rɪr/^[4]

rear¹ raise

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English reren, inherited from Old English rǣran (“to raise, lift up”),^[5][1][3] from Proto-Germanic *raizjanan (“to raise”), a causative of *rīsaną “to rise”, the source of rise.^[5][1][2] Old Norse reisa, the source of raise, is its cognate,^[1][2] and raise has taken over many of its senses.^[2] The second r is from rhotacism.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To raise, lift or build: before 725 in Old English, and in Middle English about 1150 in the sense “to bring about, cause”.^[1]

Semantic evolution

To bring up a child is from before 1200 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline,^[1][5] and to raise animals or persons by care and nourishment had developed by the late 16th century.^[5] Of a horse, to rise on its hind legs is from the late 14th century.^[5][1] In Middle English it was also used of setting fires, drawing blood, waging war and raising revenue.^[5] To raise the head is from 1667 in Milton,^[5] and rear its ugly head from 1851.^[5]

Timeline

• a. 725 – to raise.^[1]
• a. 1200 – to bring up a child.^[1]
• 1375 – to rise on the hind legs.^[1]
• 1851 – rear its ugly head.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To bring up and care for children or young animals.
2. To breed or grow animals or plants.
3. Of a horse, to rise up on its hind legs.
4. To lift up or raise something upright.

rear² back part

Etymology

The back part is inherited from Middle English rere, shortened from rerewarde “rear guard”,^[1][5][2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman rerewarde, Old French rieregarde, from riere (“behind”) and garde (“guard”);^[5][1] riere is from Latin retrō (“back, behind”).^[5][6] Some early uses may be a shortening of arrear.^[5][1] The spelling rear appears about 1557.^[1] It is related to guard and retro-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective, late or last, is from about 1303 in Barnhart and about 1300 in Etymonline.^[1][5] The noun, the back part of an army, is from before 1338.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Early uses are often military, the hindmost body of an army or fleet.^[5][7] The back part of anything is from 1641,^[7] and as a euphemism for the buttocks it is attested by 1796.^[5][7] To bring up the rear is from the 1640s,^[5] and a rear admiral from 1587 in Barnhart, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[1][5] A rear-view mirror is recorded from 1926.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – adjective, last.^[5][1]
• a. 1338 – the back of an army.^[1]
• 1580s – rear admiral.^[5]
• 1640s – bring up the rear.^[5]
• 1796 – the buttocks.^[5][7]
• 1926 – rear-view.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The back part of something.
2. The part of an army farthest from the front.
3. (informal) The buttocks.

Adjective

1. At or in the back: the rear door.

Related words

• raise
• rise
• arrear
• rearward

Usage notes

A dialect adjective rear, of an egg “lightly cooked, underdone”, recorded from about 1000, is a different word of unknown origin; compare rare “underdone”.^[6][7]

References

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