rack English · revision 14996
17 Oct 2026, 14:18 by bogdan “en10k b0422: hostage … stern” current version
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+ Rack, wind-driven cloud, is probably Scandinavian; rack, a frame, is probably from Middle Dutch.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ræk/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|driven cloud}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The cloud is [[inh|enm|rak|t=rapid movement, rain cloud]], probably of Scandinavian origin;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) compare [[non|rek|t=jetsam, wreckage]] and Norwegian and Swedish dialect rak, wreckage,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) possibly with influence from [[ang|racu|t=cloud, storm]] or [[m|ang|wræc|t=something driven]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A rush, shock or collision: before 1300 in the OED and Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A rush of wind is from about 1400,^(OED 1989) and clouds driven before the wind in the upper air from the 14th century,^(OED 1989) or about 1380 as a rain cloud.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, of clouds, to be driven by the wind, is probably from before 1200.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * before 1300 – a rush, collision.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 14th century – driven cloud.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1400 – a rush of wind.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A thin mass of wind-driven cloud.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # Of clouds, to be driven by the wind; to [[scud]].^(AHD)
+
+ {{homograph|2|frame}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=ine-pro *reg-}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The frame is [[inh|enm|rekke]], probably [[bor|dum|rec|t=framework]], related to [[m|dum|recken|t=to stretch out]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) cognate with [[ang|reccan|t=to stretch out]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*reg-|t=to move in a straight line]].^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A frame with bars or pegs to hang or hold things: about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The instrument of torture, a frame for stretching the body, is from the 15th century,^(Hoad 1986) and was adapted from a device for stretching cloth.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, to stretch on the rack, is from the 15th century,^(Hoad 1986) and ''to rack one's brains'' from the late 16th.^(Cresswell 2021) A manger, a rack for fodder, is from late Middle English.^(Cresswell 2021) A toothed bar engaging a pinion is a rack in mechanics.^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1300 – a frame for things.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+ * 15th century – the rack, torture.^(Hoad 1986)
+ * 15th century – to rack (verb).^(Hoad 1986)
+ * late 16th century – to rack one's brains.^(Cresswell 2021)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A framework for holding, hanging or displaying things: ''a plate rack''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''the rack'': an instrument of torture that stretched the victim's body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A toothed bar that engages a pinion.^(Collins 2023)
+ # A triangular frame for setting up billiard balls.^(AHD)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To cause great physical or mental suffering to.^(AHD)
+ # To torture on the rack.^(AHD)
+ # ''rack one's brains'': to try hard to think of something.^(Cresswell 2021)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[roof rack]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[wrack]]
+ * [[wreck]]
+ * [[reach]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Other words spelled rack are separate: a horse's fast gait (1530), of uncertain origin;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) rack in ''rack and ruin'' (1599), a variant of [[wrack]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a rib cut of lamb or veal;^(AHD) and to rack wine, draw it off its dregs, from Provençal.^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}