rót

Forms

rót f (strong consonant stem)^[1] The plural rœtr is written rǿtr in the earliest manuscripts.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”),^[1][4] a root noun, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”).^[1] The same root gives Latin rādīx (“root”) and Ancient Greek ῥάδιξ (rhádix, “branch”).^[5][6] A different ablaut grade is in Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐍃 (waurts, “root”), Old English wyrt (“plant, root”) and the Norse urt.^[7][8]

Kroonen notes that the loss of the initial *w is unexpected in East Norse, where Old Swedish has the same ⟨rōt⟩, so that the link with the ⟨*wurti-⟩ words needs an ad hoc loss of *w.^[4] De Vries mentions the comparison with Old Irish frén (“root”) and the pre-form *urād, and adds that the East Norse forms do not fit a Proto-Norse form with w-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota first records the noun in two manuscripts of 1200–1225, AM 619 4to with rot and rotom and AM 677 4to with rót, rótinni and the plural rǿtr.^[9][2] Larsson has rót in the Icelandic Homily Book, one of the oldest Icelandic manuscripts.^[10] The proverb that bad fruit comes from a bad root, íllr ávöxtr af íllri rót, shows the literal and the figurative sense side by side.^[3][11]

Semantic evolution

Besides the root of a plant the word named the foot of a tree or a mountain, and figuratively a cause or origin, in phrases such as vera rót undir e-u “to be at the root of something”.^[12][3][6] In the Norwegian church laws a root kept in the house is forbidden among heathen things, and learned texts use it for the root of a number.^[3][13][14]

It continues in Icelandic rót, Faroese rót, Swedish rot and Danish rod.^[6][8] English root, in late Old English rōt, is a loan from Norse, as Björkman showed.^[5][8][15]

Timeline

• 1200–1225 – rot, rót and the plural rǿtr in AM 619 4to and AM 677 4to.^[9][2]
• 1250–1300 – røtr and rætr in Holm perg 6 fol.^[16]
• 1270–1280 – rotum and rotanna in AM 243 bα fol.^[17]
• 1350 – rótum in IcePaHC's earliest text with the word.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. the root of a plant.^[11][19]
2. the lower part or foot of a tree.^[3]
3. (figurative) cause, origin.^[11][12]
4. (law) a root used in witchcraft.^[3][13]
5. (mathematics) a root of a number.^[3][13]

Word family

• rótartré
• rótardráttr
• rótaklumba
• rótakylfa
• rœta

Descendants

• Icelandic rót^[1]
• Faroese rót^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk rot^[1]
• Swedish rot^[1]
• Danish rod^[1]
• English root^[15][5]

Related words

• urt

Usage notes

Two other words are spelled rót: a feminine or neuter for the inner part of a roof, where stores were hung, and a neuter for commotion or the rolling of the sea.^[3][11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 503
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 597
5. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 452
6. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. rót
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 476
8. ^ a b c Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. rot
9. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
10. ^ Larsson, Ludvig (1891), Ordförrådet i de älsta islänska handskrifterna, Lund: Ph. Lindstedt, p. 265
11. ^ a b c d Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. rót
12. ^ a b c Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. rót
13. ^ a b c Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 351
14. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 527
15. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 6 fol
17. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 243 bα fol
18. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
19. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. rót