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raubo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word raubo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 507–511, Lex Salica
Borrowed from
Frankish *raubōn
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *raubōną

Forms

raubō (present infinitive raubāre, perfect active raubāvī, supine raubātum); first conjugation[1] Medieval spellings include rōbō, rubō and rupō.[2][3] British sources have rōbō and rōbiō.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *raubōn (“to rob”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *raubōną (“to rob, plunder”).[3][1] The TLL calls it a Germanic word and compares a Gothic verb meaning “to rob”; it traces the Germanic verb to a root meaning “to break, tear”, the same root as in rumpō (“to burst, break”).[5] Köbler gives this root as Proto-Indo-European *reup- (“to tear, break”).[3][6] Niermeyer derives the verb instead from the medieval noun rauba “booty”, itself of Germanic origin.[2]

Cognate with Old High German roubōn and Old English rēafian, both “to rob”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Lex Salica, the law code of the Salian Franks, which fines anyone who robs another on the road thirty solidi, and treats taking something from another's hand by force as robbing.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In the early medieval law codes it meant to despoil a person by force, with the person robbed as object.[5][2] Derivatives followed: dēraubō “to rob”,[2] raubāria “robbery, stolen goods” and raubātor “robber”.[3]

In England, under the spelling rōbō, it was common in legal records from the 12th century, with the thing stolen introduced by dē.[4] The Romance languages kept the verb: Italian rubare, Old French rober, Old Occitan raubar, Spanish robar and Portuguese roubar.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 507–511 – The Lex Salica uses it for robbery on the road.[5][3]
  • late 12th century – English takes rob from the Old French verb.[7]
  • 1198 – An English court record says that pursuers robbed a man who fled on his horse.[4]
  • 1221 – A Gloucestershire crown plea records that a merchant was robbed.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) To rob, plunder, despoil (someone).[5][2][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To rob someone dē (of) something.[4]

Word family

  • dēraubō
  • raubāria
  • raubātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Raubo.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/raubo. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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