rás

Forms

rás f^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *rēsō (“a running, course”),^[1][2] a feminine ⟨ō⟩-stem.^[3] Its cognates are Old English rǣs (“running, attack”) and Middle Low German rās (“strong current”).^[2][4] Outside Germanic, Orel and de Vries compare Ancient Greek ἐρωή (erōḗ, “rush, impetus”),^[2][5] and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon sets it under a root *rē̆s-, *eres- “to flow, run”, with Latin rōs (“dew”).^[4]

Cleasby and Vigfússon thought of a connection with renna,^[6] but the modern dictionaries relate it instead to the verbs rasa and ræsa and the neuter ras “haste”.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first dated record is from 1175, in the Old Icelandic Elucidarius (ONP's Eluc674), of the courses of the heavenly bodies: Sol oc tungl oc stiornor keɴna goþ þuiat þau varþveita staþe rasar siɴnar “Sun and moon and stars make God known, because they keep the station of their course”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

ONP puts the senses in the order “running, speed”, “current, stream”, “course of life, of time”, “orbit”, “direction, way”, then the rarer “column of figures”, “channel, opening”, “line, furrow” and “host”.^[8] In the sagas the commonest uses are the phrases taka á rás and hefja á rás “to take to one's heels”, and með mikilli rás “at great speed”.^[8][9] The Norwegian laws use it of pursuit, the chase after a fleeing man.^[10][11]

Icelandic and Faroese keep rás.^[4] English race “a running” is either from the Norse word or the Old English rǣs reshaped under its influence,^[12] and de Vries also derives a Guernsey French ras “current” from it.^[5]

Timeline

• 1175 – the course of the heavenly bodies in the Elucidarius.^[8]
• 1200 – allre rós lífs hans “the whole course of his life” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[8]
• 1212 – fliotandi rǫ́s “a flowing stream”, of mankind (ONP's Hóm677).^[8]
• 1262 – með akafri ras “at great speed” in Oddr's saga of Óláfr Tryggvason (ONP's ÓTOdd).^[8]
• c. 1300 – English race “an act of swift running”.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. a running, race, speed;^[8][9] taka á rás “to run off”.^[8][9]
2. (law) pursuit of a fleeing man.^[10][11]
3. a current, stream, flow (of water or lava).^[8]
4. the course of life or of time.^[8]
5. the orbit or course of a heavenly body.^[8]
6. a direction, way, order.^[8]
7. (mathematics) a row or column of figures.^[8]
8. a channel, opening.^[8][9]
9. a company, host.^[8][9]

Word family

• árás
• blóðrás
• sólarrás
• undanrás
• vatnrás

Descendants

• Icelandic rás^[1]
• Faroese rás^[1]
• Middle English ras^[12]
• English race^[12]

Related words

• rasa
• ræsa

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 304
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. rás
5. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 434
6. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 488
7. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 340
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. rás
9. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. rás
10. ^ a b Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 507
11. ^ a b A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield, p. s.v. rás
12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com