row English · revision 4330
15 Oct 2026, 22:18 by bogdan “en10k b0146 (cycle … republic)” current version
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+ English has three words spelled ''row'': “a line”, from Old English rāw, and “to use oars”, from Old English rōwan, both pronounced /rəʊ/, and the 18th-century “quarrel”, pronounced /raʊ/, of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|line}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=a. 1200|origins=ang rāw}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: UK /rəʊ/, US /roʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|rawe]], rewe,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[inh|ang|rāw|t=a row, line; succession, hedgerow]], late Old English rēawe, rēwe,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*raiwiz]] or *rai(h)waz,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) probably related to Middle Dutch rie (Dutch rij) and Middle High German rīhe, German Reihe “row, line, series”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The Germanic word is possibly from [[ine-pro|*rei-|t=to scratch, tear, cut]], which also gave Sanskrit rikhati “scratches” and rekhā “line”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Order, succession: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^(Barnhart 1988) and a line of people or things about 1200 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) before 1225 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Old English rāw is from 940.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A number of houses in a line, and hence a street, is from the mid-14th century, chiefly Scottish and northern according to the OED.^(Etymonline) A class or category of persons is from before 1300.^(OED 1989) A line of seats in a theatre is from 1710, and a line of plants in a field from 1733,^(Etymonline) hence the American ''a hard row to hoe'', from 1823.^(Etymonline) In music, a tone row is from 1936.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 940 – Old English rāw.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * a. 1200 – order, succession; a line.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * mid-14th century – a row of houses.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1710 – a row of seats.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1733 – a row of plants.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1823 – ''a hard row to hoe''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1936 – a tone row.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A number of people or things arranged in a usually straight [[line]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A succession without a break: ''three wins in a row''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A continuous line of buildings along a street, or the street itself.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A line of seats in a theatre.^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A horizontal line of entries in a [[table]] or [[matrix]].^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To place in a row.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[rowhouse]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|use oars}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 950|origins=ine-pro *h₁erh₁-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: UK /rəʊ/, US /roʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|rowen]], rouwen,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[inh|ang|rōwan|t=to go by water, row]], a strong verb,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Proto-Germanic *rō-,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old Norse róa, Dutch roeien and Middle High German rüejen.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The root is [[ine-pro|*h₁erh₁-|alt=*ere-|t=to row]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which also gave [[m|la|rēmus|t=oar]], Greek eréssein “to row”, Old Irish ráme “oar”, Lithuanian irti “to row” and Sanskrit arítra “oar”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) It is related to [[rudder]] and [[trireme]].^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ “To propel a boat with oars”: about 950 in Old English,^(Barnhart 1988) before the 12th century in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024) Middle English rouwen is from before 1200, in Layamon's Brut.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The figurative phrase ''row against the flood'', to attempt something hard, is from the mid-12th century.^(Etymonline) The verb became transitive, to carry in a rowed boat, in the 14th century,^(Hoad 1986) and weak past forms appeared in the 13th.^(Hoad 1986) The noun, an act or spell of rowing, is from 1832, in American English,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and ''rowboat'' from 1538.^(Barnhart 1988) The rowing machine is from 1848.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 950 – Old English rōwan.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * a. 1200 – Middle English rouwen.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 14th century – transitive use.^(Hoad 1986)
+ * 1538 – ''rowboat''.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1832 – noun, a spell of rowing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1848 – the rowing machine.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To move a [[boat]] through water using [[oar]]s.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # To carry in a boat propelled by oars.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # To compete in a rowing race, or against another crew.^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ===Noun===
+ # A trip in a rowing boat, or an act of rowing.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[rower]]
+ * [[rowing]]
+ * [[rowboat]]
+
+ {{homograph|3|quarrel}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1746}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /raʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ Its origin is uncertain.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It began as slang, in Etymonline Cambridge student slang,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and may be related to, or a shortening of, [[rouse]] “a carousal, drinking bout”, from 1602 in Shakespeare's Hamlet, itself a shortening of [[carouse]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Klein suggests a back-formation from rouse taken as a plural, as pea came from pease.^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A violent disturbance or commotion, a noisy quarrel: 1746.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was considered slang or “low” speech in the mid-18th century,^(Cresswell 2021) and came into common use in the early 1800s together with its probable derivative [[rowdy]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) The verb meant at first to tease or rough someone up, from 1790,^(Barnhart 1988) and to make a noisy commotion from 1797.^(Barnhart 1988) The general sense “noise, din” is from 1845,^(OED 1989) and ''what's the row?'', what is the matter?, from 1837.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1746 – a commotion, quarrel.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1790 – verb, to rough up.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1797 – verb, to make a commotion.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1837 – ''what's the row?''^(OED 1989)
+ * 1845 – noise, din.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A noisy [[quarrel]] or dispute.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A loud noise or [[commotion]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To quarrel noisily.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[rowdy]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[outrow]]
+ * [[rouse]]
+ * [[rudder]]
+ * [[trireme]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ In Cornwall row was also coarse, undressed tin ore and the refuse of the stamping mills.^(Wright 1898)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}