rush English · revision 4939

+ Rush, to move fast, and rush, the marsh plant, are different words.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /rʌʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|hurry}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1375|origins=la recusare}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ruschen]], russhen, [[bor|xno|russher]], a variant of Old French ruser, reüser “to dodge, repel”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin recūsāre “to object to, refuse”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[recuse]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[ruse]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To drive back, repel: 1375 in Barnhart, in Barbour's Bruce, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) To move quickly, dash, about 1380, in Sir Ferumbras.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, a charge or onslaught, is from about 1380.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The meaning “to do something quickly” is from the 1650s,^(Etymonline) and the transitive “to hurry someone or something along” from 1850.^(Etymonline) A mass migration, especially to a gold field, is from 1848, in American English, with reference to California.^(Etymonline) In rugby and football ''rush'' is by 1857.^(Etymonline) The ''rush hour'' is from 1888 in Etymonline and 1898 in Barnhart,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the adjective, needing haste, as in ''rush order'', is from 1879.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) At American colleges a rush was a contest of strength between classes (1860), and by 1896 it was the recruiting of students by fraternities and sororities.^(Etymonline) The first prints of a day's filming are ''rushes'' from 1924,^(OED 1989) and a surge of pleasure from a drug is from the 1960s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1375 – to drive back.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – to dash; noun, a charge.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1650s – to act quickly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – a gold rush.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1888 – ''rush hour''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1896 – fraternity rush.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1960s – a surge of pleasure.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move or do something very quickly; to [[hurry]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make someone act or something happen too fast.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To take someone or something somewhere quickly.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To attack suddenly.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US)'' To try to recruit a student into a fraternity or sorority.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sudden fast movement, or a busy time when many people do the same thing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A need to hurry.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A sudden strong feeling, especially of pleasure.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ {{homograph|2|plant}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *rusk-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|rishe]], resh, rush, [[inh|ang|risc|alt=risc, resc, rysc]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*ruskaz|alt=*rusk-]],^(Etymonline) the source also of Middle Low German rusch and Dutch rus.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is perhaps from [[ine-pro|*rezg-|t=to plait, weave]], the root of Latin restis “rope” and Sanskrit rájju- “rope”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The OED notes that the many vowel variants make its history far from clear.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A marsh plant with straight stems: about 725 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rushes were used for torches and rushlights, for finger rings, and strewn on floors, especially when visitors came.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) By the early 14th century the rush was a type of something weak or worthless, as in ''not worth a rush''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – the plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1300 – a thing of no value.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A plant with long thin hollow stems that grows in wet places, used to make [[mat]]s, baskets and chair seats.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ruse]]

+ * [[recuse]]

+ * [[bulrush]]

+ * [[rushlight]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}