rub English · revision 10760

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=before 1325}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /rʌb/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Middle English rubben is of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) perhaps from Low German rubben,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and is cognate with East Frisian rubben, to scratch, rub, Low German rubbelig, rough, and Danish rubbe, Swedish rubba, to rub, scrub;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) its ultimate origin is unknown.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Merriam-Webster links it with Icelandic rubba, to scrape.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To rub, massage: before 1325 as robben;^(Barnhart 1988) to apply friction to a surface, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun first meant an obstacle in the game of bowls that slows or deflects a bowl (1586),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and any hindrance from 1590, as in Hamlet's “there's the rub”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) An act of rubbing is not recorded before 1615.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) ''Rub out'' is from the late 14th century, to obliterate from the 1560s, and to kill in American underworld slang from 1848.^(Etymonline) ''Rub off on'', to influence, is by 1959,^(Etymonline) and ''rub someone up the wrong way'' comes from stroking a cat against its fur.^(Cresswell 2021) In golf, ''the rub of the green'' is an accidental deflection of the ball (1842).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – to rub.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1586 – a rub in bowls.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590 – an obstacle (there's the rub).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1615 – an act of rubbing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1848 – rub out, kill.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To press and move something back and forth against a surface.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To apply a substance by rubbing: ''to rub in cream''.^(Collins 2023)

+ # To [[chafe]] or make sore by friction.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To annoy or irritate.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of rubbing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A difficulty or [[obstacle]]: ''there's the rub''.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rubstone]]

+ * [[rubber]]

+ * [[rubbing]]

+ * [[rubboard]]

+ * [[rub in]]

+ * [[rub out]]

+ * [[rub off]]

+ * [[rub up]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}