rugby English · revision 5481

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1852}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈrʌɡ.bi/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is named after Rugby School, in the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, central England, where the game was first played.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) The place name is Rocheberie in 1086, probably “the fortified place of a man called Hroca”, from Old English burh; by the 13th century the second element was replaced by Old Norse -by “village” under Danish influence.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The game: 1852 in MWU, 1864 in the OED, Etymonline and Barnhart.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ According to tradition, in a school football match in 1823 a boy named William Webb Ellis first picked up the ball and ran with it, and so began the game.^(Cresswell 2021) The Rugby Union was formed in 1871.^(Etymonline) The informal name ''rugger'' is from 1893, part of an Oxford craze of the 1890s for adding -er to words, which also gave [[soccer]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Rugby fives is from 1897.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1823 – the traditional date of the game's invention.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1852 – the name of the game.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1871 – the Rugby Union.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1893 – ''rugger''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A form of [[football]] played with an oval ball, which players may kick or carry and pass backwards by hand.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Canada)'' Another name for Canadian football.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rugger]]

+ * [[rugby shirt]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[soccer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}