rub

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rʌb/^[1]

Etymology

Middle English rubben is of uncertain origin,^[2][3][4] perhaps from Low German rubben,^[3][5] and is cognate with East Frisian rubben, to scratch, rub, Low German rubbelig, rough, and Danish rubbe, Swedish rubba, to rub, scrub;^[6][2] its ultimate origin is unknown.^[6][3] Merriam-Webster links it with Icelandic rubba, to scrape.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To rub, massage: before 1325 as robben;^[6] to apply friction to a surface, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun first meant an obstacle in the game of bowls that slows or deflects a bowl (1586),^[6][8][2] and any hindrance from 1590, as in Hamlet's “there's the rub”.^[6][4] An act of rubbing is not recorded before 1615.^[6][8] Rub out is from the late 14th century, to obliterate from the 1560s, and to kill in American underworld slang from 1848.^[2] Rub off on, to influence, is by 1959,^[2] and rub someone up the wrong way comes from stroking a cat against its fur.^[4] In golf, the rub of the green is an accidental deflection of the ball (1842).^[8]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to rub.^[6]
• 1586 – a rub in bowls.^[6]
• 1590 – an obstacle (there's the rub).^[6]
• 1615 – an act of rubbing.^[6][8]
• 1848 – rub out, kill.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To press and move something back and forth against a surface.
2. To apply a substance by rubbing: to rub in cream.
3. To chafe or make sore by friction.
4. To annoy or irritate.

Noun

1. An act of rubbing.
2. A difficulty or obstacle: there's the rub.

Word family

• rubstone
• rubber
• rubbing
• rubboard
• rub in
• rub out
• rub off
• rub up

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press