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rugby

Etymology and origin of the English word rugby

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Eponym
First attested
1852

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈrʌɡ.bi/[1]

Etymology

It is named after Rugby School, in the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, central England, where the game was first played.[2][3][4][5] The place name is Rocheberie in 1086, probably “the fortified place of a man called Hroca”, from Old English burh; by the 13th century the second element was replaced by Old Norse -by “village” under Danish influence.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The game: 1852 in MWU, 1864 in the OED, Etymonline and Barnhart.[4][6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

According to tradition, in a school football match in 1823 a boy named William Webb Ellis first picked up the ball and ran with it, and so began the game.[7] The Rugby Union was formed in 1871.[2] The informal name rugger is from 1893, part of an Oxford craze of the 1890s for adding -er to words, which also gave soccer.[2][7] Rugby fives is from 1897.[6]

Timeline

  • 1823 – the traditional date of the game's invention.[7]
  • 1852 – the name of the game.[4]
  • 1871 – the Rugby Union.[2]
  • 1893 – rugger.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A form of football played with an oval ball, which players may kick or carry and pass backwards by hand.
  2. (Canada) Another name for Canadian football.

Word family

  • rugger
  • rugby shirt

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Rugby.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/rugby. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·