rocket English · revision 6043

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈrɒk.ɪt/, US /ˈrɑː.kɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|salad plant}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1500|origins=la ērūca}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The plant is [[bor|frm|roquette]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from Italian [[m|it|rochetta]], a variant of [[m|it|ruchetta]], diminutive of [[m|it|ruca|t=a kind of cabbage]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|ērūca|t=colewort; caterpillar]], a word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad explains the Latin as a plant with downy stems,^(Hoad 1986) and Etymonline relates it to [[m|la|ēricius|t=hedgehog]], from PIE [[ine-pro|*ghers-|t=to bristle]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The garden plant of the mustard family: before 1500 as rokette in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1500 in Etymonline and MWU,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) 1530 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Garden rocket and Roman rocket are from 1548,^(OED 1989) and the name spread to other plants, such as the dame's violet, of the genus Hesperis (1629).^(OED 1989) It is eaten as a salad, especially round the Mediterranean;^(SOED 2002) Word Origins stresses that the salad leaf is a totally different word from the firework.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1500 – the plant, rokette.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1548 – garden rocket.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1629 – plants of the genus Hesperis.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A Mediterranean plant of the [[mustard]] family with sharp-tasting leaves eaten in [[salad|alt=salads]]; [[arugula]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Any of several related plants, such as dame's rocket.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ {{homograph|2|projectile}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1611|origins=it rocca}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The projectile is [[bor|it|rocchetto|t=a rocket; a bobbin]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) perhaps through French [[m|fr|roquette]],^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) a diminutive of [[m|it|rocca|t=distaff]], so called from its cylindrical shape.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The Italian word is probably of Germanic origin:^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) compare [[goh|rocko|t=distaff]] (German Rocken), [[dum|rokke]] and [[non|rokkr]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*rukkon-]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A firework, a tube of pasteboard filled with combustible matter: 1611, in Florio's ''New World of Words'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1610s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and MWU's first known use is 1566.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The proverb ''to rise like a rocket and fall like a stick'' is from 1792.^(OED 1989) A device propelled by a rocket engine, as for spaceflight, is by 1919 in the work of Goddard,^(Etymonline) and rocket ship in the space-travel sense from 1927.^(Etymonline) Rocket science as a by-word for something difficult is by 1985, and rocket scientist from 1952.^(Etymonline) A severe reprimand, as in ''to get a rocket'', is British military slang of the Second World War.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Collins 2023) The verb meant first to attack with rockets (1799), then to send up by rocket (1837) and to fly straight up like a rocket (1860), as a flushed game bird does;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) prices rocketing is a later figurative use.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1611 – a firework rocket, in Florio.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1792 – to rise like a rocket and fall like a stick.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1799 – to attack with rockets.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1860 – to fly straight up.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1919 – a rocket-propelled vehicle.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1952 – rocket scientist.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[firework]] or signal flare propelled by burning its contents.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An [[engine]] that produces [[thrust]] by ejecting hot gases, or a vehicle, [[missile]] or spacecraft driven by one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Brit., informal)'' A severe reprimand.^(Collins 2023)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move or rise very fast, like a rocket.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a game bird, to fly straight up when flushed.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To attack with rockets.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rochet]]

+ * [[arugula]]

+ * [[distaff]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third rocket, now rare, was a variant of [[rochet]], a bishop's vestment or a cloak, from Old French roket.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}