riot English · revision 7774

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=fro riote}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɹaɪ.ət/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English riote, [[bor|fro|riote|t=dispute, quarrel, chatter]], masculine riot,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) corresponding to Old Occitan riota, both of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)^(Hoad 1986) MWU traces it to Old French rioter, to quarrel, perhaps from ruire, to roar, and Etymonline suggests Latin rugire, to roar.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) Archaic Italian riotta was borrowed from Old French.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Debauchery, extravagance, unrestrained revelry: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'';^(Barnhart 1988) before 1225 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French the word also meant domestic strife and was a euphemism for sexual intercourse.^(Etymonline) The following of a wrong scent by hounds is about 1200 in Etymonline and 15th century in Hoad,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and its figurative use, ''to run riot'', to act without restraint, appeared in 1523.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A violent public disturbance is first recorded in Gower's ''Confessio Amantis'' (before 1393).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb, to live dissolutely, is late 14th-century,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and to take part in a violent disturbance is from 1755.^(Etymonline) The Riot Act, part of which had to be read to a mob before force could be used, was passed in 1714.^(Etymonline) A vivid display of colours is by 1891,^(Etymonline) and something spectacularly successful is theatre slang from 1909.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – debauchery.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1393 – a public disturbance.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1523 – run riot.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1714 – the Riot Act.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1755 – to riot (violently).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – a great success.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd of people; in law, by three or more persons.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An unrestrained outburst, as of laughter or feeling.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A brilliant display: ''a riot of colour''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A very amusing person or thing.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take part in a riot.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To live wildly; to revel.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rioter]]

+ * [[antiriot]]

+ * [[riotous]]

+ * [[nonrioting]]

+ * [[riot act]]

+ * [[race riot]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rout]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Riot is also a variant spelling of [[ryot]], an Indian peasant.^(OED 1989) In East Anglian dialect a riot was a noise, a quarrel between two people only.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}