rug

See also: rúg and rüg

English

Etymology

Uncertain; probably of North Germanic origin; perhaps inherited via Middle English *rugge (suggested by Middle English ruggy (“hairy, shaggy, bristly”) and rugged (“hairy, shaggy, rugged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“shagginess, tuft”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwō (“long wool”), probably related to *rūhaz (“rough”), related to English rag and rough.

Cognate with dialectal Norwegian rugga (“coarse coverlet”), Swedish rugg (“rough entangled hair”), related to English rag and rough. Compare also Old English rȳhe (“rug, rough covering, blanket”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: rŭg, IPA^(key): /ɹʌɡ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌɡ

Noun

rug (plural rugs)

1. A partial covering for a floor. [1624]
2. (UK, Australia) A (usually thick) piece of fabric used for warmth (especially on a bed); a blanket. [1591]
   • 1855, William Howitt, A Boy′s Adventures in the Wilds of Australia: or, Herbert′s Note-Book, page 254:

     They then cut down a quantity of gum-tree leaves for a bed, and threw their rugs upon them ready for bed-time.

   • 1906 July 27, Government Gazette of Western Australia, page 2297:

     Furnish every sleeping apartment with a sufficient number of toilet utensils and bedsteads, and sufficient bedding so that each bed shall be provided with a mattress, two sheets, a rug, and, in winter time, not less than one additional rug.

   • 1950 April, Dental Journal of Australia, Volume 22, page 181,

     My own son had a bunny rug of which he was very fond and on being put to bed he would always demand his “bunny rug to suck his finger with.″

   • 1958, Arthur Hailey, John Castle. Runway Zero-Eight. Bantham Books

     She tucked in a rug round the woman. “How’s that?” The woman nodded gratefully.

   • 1997, Alan Sharpe, Vivien Encel, Murder!: 25 True Australian Crimes, page 22:

     He brought with him a rug and a sheet, and lay down by the fire.

3. (historical, now rare) A kind of coarse, heavy frieze, formerly used for clothing. [1547]
   • 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Irelande […]”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC:

     They spin the choicest rug in Ireland. A friend of mine […] repaired to Paris Garden clad in one of these Waterford rugs.

4. (historical, now rare) A cloak or mantle made of such a frieze. [1577]
5. (obsolete, rare) A person wearing a rug. [1627]
6. A cloth covering for a horse. [1790]
7. (obsolete, rare) A dense layer of natural vegetation that precludes the growth of crops. [1792]
8. (slang) The female pubic hair. [1893]
9. A rough, woolly, or shaggy dog.
10. (slang) A wig; a hairpiece. [1940]
11. (colloquial) A dense growth of chest hair. [1954]
12. (US, slang, ethnic slur) Short for rughead.
    • 1980, John Irwin, Prisons in Turmoil, page 212:

      We're the motherfuckers be fightin' when the rugs [black prisoners] start wasting people around here.

Usage notes

• (partial floor covering): The terms rug and carpet are not precise synonyms: a rug covers part of the floor; a carpet covers most or a large area of the floor; a fitted carpet runs wall-to-wall.

Synonyms

• (small carpet): carpet, mat
• (wig): toupee, wig

Derived terms

• area rug
• brush something under the rug
• cut a rug
• cute as a bug in a rug
• cut the rug
• drug rug
• lie like a cheap rug
• lie like a rug
• Nain rug
• Oriental rug
• oriental rug
• prayer rug
• pull the rug
• pull the rug out from under
• rag rug
• rug-cutter
• rug-cutting
• rug-headed
• rug joint
• rug monkey
• rug muncher
• rug pilot
• rug pull
• rug-pull
• rug ranking
• rug rat
• rug rider
• scatter rug
• snug as a bug in a rug
• sweep something under the rug
• throw rug
• under the rug

 

Translations

partial floor covering

• Albanian: sixhade (sq) f, qilim (sq) m
• Arabic: سَجَّادَة f (sajjāda)
• Armenian: գորգ (hy) (gorg)
• Azerbaijani: xalça (az)
• Belarusian: кілімо́к m (kilimók)
• Bulgarian: килимче́ (bg) n (kilimčé), че́рга (bg) f (čérga)
• Catalan: catifa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 地氈／地毡 (dei⁶ zin¹)

  Mandarin: 地毯 (zh) (dìtǎn), 毯 (zh) (tǎn)

• Czech: kobereček (cs) m
• Danish: måtte (da) c, tæppe (da) n
• Dutch: tapijt (nl) n
• Esperanto: mato (eo), tapiŝo (eo), tapiŝeto
• Estonian: vaip
• Faroese: teppi (fo) n
• Finnish: matto (fi)
• French: tapis (fr)
• Georgian: ხალიჩა (ka) (xaliča)
• German: Teppich (de) m, Brücke (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: τάπης m (tápēs)

• Hebrew: שָׁטִיחַ (he) m (shatíakh)
• Hindi: ग़ालीचा m (ġālīcā), दरी (hi) f (darī)
• Hungarian: szőnyeg (hu)
• Ingrian: maakangas
• Italian: tappeto (it), tappetino (it), scendiletto (it)
• Japanese: ラグ (ragu), 絨毯 (ja) (じゅうたん, jūtan)
• Kazakh: кілемше (kılemşe)
• Kikuyu: mũgeka class 3
• Korean: 깔개 (kkalgae)
• Kyrgyz: килемче (kilemce)
• Lao: ພົມ (phom)
• Latin: strāgulum n, tapēs m
• Latvian: tepiķis m, paklājs m
• Lithuanian: kilimėlis m
• Lushootseed: ʔiq̓ʷsad
• Macedonian: тепих m (tepih), ќилим m (ḱilim)
• Maori: tarapouahi
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хивс (mn) (xivs)

• Navajo: diyogí n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: teppe (no) n

• Ojibwe: anaakan
• Persian: قالیچِه (fa) (qâliče), سَجّادِه (fa) (sajjâde)
• Plautdietsch: Teppich n
• Polish: dywanik (pl) m
• Portuguese: tapete (pt) m, tapetinho m
• Romanian: carpetă (ro) f, covoraș (ro) n
• Russian: ко́врик (ru) m (kóvrik)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тѐпих m, ћѝлим m

  Roman: tèpih (sh) m, ćìlim m

• Slovak: koberček m
• Slovene: preproga (sl) f
• Spanish: tapete (es) m, alfombra (es) f, alfombrilla (es) f
• Swedish: matta (sv) c
• Tajik: қолича (qoliča)
• Taos: hálgoną
• Thai: พรม (th) (prom)
• Ukrainian: килимо́к (uk) m (kylymók)
• Urdu: غالِیچَہ m (ġālīca), قالِیچَہ m (qālīca), سَجّادَہ m (sajjāda)
• Uzbek: gilamcha (uz)
• Welsh: rỳg (cy) m, rygiau (cy) m pl

thick piece of fabric used for warmth

• Bulgarian: одеяло (bg) n (odejalo)
• Finnish: viltti (fi), huopa (fi)
• French: couverture (fr)
• Welsh: rỳg (cy) m, rygiau (cy) m pl

coarse, heavy frieze

• Finnish: karkea friisikangas

covering for a horse

• Bulgarian: чул (bg) m (čul)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: покрѝва̄ч m

  Roman: pokrìvāč (sh) m

rough, woolly, or shaggy dog

• Finnish: karvaturri (fi)

wig — see wig

Verb

rug (third-person singular simple present rugs, present participle rugging, simple past and past participle rugged)

1. (transitive) To cover with a rug.
   • 1966, Margaret I. Clarke, Care of the Horse and Pony, page 45:

     It stands to reason that because of the difference in climate the necessity for rugging a horse in Australia would vary considerably from that in cold countries like England […]

2. (Scotland, archaic) To pull roughly or hastily; to plunder; to spoil; to tear.
   • 1816, [Walter Scott], The Antiquary. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

     “this was a job in the auld times o'rugging and riving through the hale country […] ”

Derived terms

• rug up

Further reading

• “rug”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “rug”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “rug”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• GRU, GUR

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch rug.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rœχ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

rug (plural rûe or rûens, diminutive ruggie)

1. (plural chiefly rûe) back (rear of the body)
2. (plural chiefly rûens) hill; ridge

Aromanian

Etymology 1

From Latin rubus. Compare Romanian rug.

Alternative forms

• rugu, arug, arugu

Noun

rug m (plural rudz)

1. wild rose, raspberry bush, bramble bush

Synonyms

• pilivuri, zigrã, mãcesh, bubzel

Etymology 2

Probably a semi-learned term or borrowing from Latin rogus, as with its Romanian cognate rug (or modeled after it). Less likely inherited.

Noun

rug m (plural rudz)

1. funeral pyre

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish rugh, from Old Norse rugr, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrugʰyo-. Compare Norwegian Bokmål rug, Swedish råg, Icelandic rúgur, Dutch rogge, Low German Rogg, German Roggen, English rye.

Noun

rug c (singular definite rugen, not used in plural form)

1. rye (Secale cereale)

Verb

rug

1. imperative of ruge

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch rugge, from Old Dutch ruggi, from Proto-West Germanic *hrugi, from Proto-Germanic *hrugjaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rʏx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rug
• Rhymes: -ʏx

Noun

rug m (plural ruggen, diminutive ruggetje n or rugje n)

1. back, backside
2. (geology) ridge
3. (Netherlands, historical) Short for rooie rug; a thousand-guilders banknote

Derived terms

• achter de rug
• bultrug, bultrugwalvis
• heuvelrug
• roodrugpelikaan
• rooie rug
• rugborstel
• ruggespraak
• rugklacht
• rugpijn
• rugslag
• rugslaper
• rugtas
• rugvin
• rugzak
• zadelrug

 

Descendants

• Afrikaans: rug
• Jersey Dutch: rœx
• Negerhollands: rugge, rigi, rege

Elfdalian

Noun

rug m

1. rye (Secale cereale)

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Faroese

Noun

rug

1. accusative singular indefinite of rugur

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish ·ruc, prototonic form of ro·ucc, perfect tense of beirid.

Pronunciation

• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ɾˠʌɡ/

Verb

rug

1. analytic past indicative of beir

Manx

Etymology

From ro·uccai, suppletive augmented form of beirid. Compare Irish and Scottish Gaelic rugadh.

Verb

rug (verbal noun ruggal, past participle ruggit)

1. to bear (give birth to)

Synonyms

• behr
• ymmyrk

Norwegian Bokmål

rug

Etymology

From Old Norse rugr, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrugʰyo-. Compare Danish rug, Swedish råg, Icelandic rúgur, Dutch rogge, German Roggen, English rye.

Noun

rug m (definite singular rugen)

1. rye (the grass Secale cereale or its grains as food)

Derived terms

• rugbrød

References

• “rug” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse rugr, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrugʰyo-. Cognate with Faroese rugur, Icelandic rúgur, Swedish råg, Danish rug, Dutch rogge, German Roggen, and English rye.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rʊː(ɡ)/, /rʉː(ɡ)/
• (North Gudbrand Valley) IPA^(key): [ruɡ]
• Hyphenation: rùg

Noun

rug m (definite singular rugen)

1. rye (the grass Secale cereale or its grains as food)

Derived terms

• rugbrød

References

• “rug” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Adjective

rūg

1. Alternative form of rūh

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈruk/
• Rhymes: -uk
• Syllabification: rug
• Homophones: róg, Róg, Rug

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin rūga.

Noun

rug m inan

1. (obsolete) crease, notch, wrinkle

   Synonyms: bruzda, fałda, karb, zmarszczka

Declension

Declension of rug

	singular	plural
nominative	rug	rugi
genitive	rugu	rugów
dative	rugowi	rugom
accusative	rug	rugi
instrumental	rugiem	rugami
locative	rugu	rugach
vocative	rugu	rugi

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Polish rug.

Noun

rug m inan (related adjective rugowy)

1. (in the plural, historical) mass expulsions of foreign subjects

   Synonyms: ekspulsja, wydalanie

2. (in the plural, historical) verifying the validity of parliamentary elections

   Hypernym: sprawdzanie

3. (chiefly in the plural, historical) judicial inquiry, investigation

   Synonyms: dochodzenie, śledztwo

Declension

Declension of rug

	singular	plural
nominative	rug	rugi
genitive	rugu	rugów
dative	rugowi	rugom
accusative	rug	rugi
instrumental	rugiem	rugami
locative	rugu	rugach
vocative	rugu	rugi

Related terms

nouns

• rugownik

 

verbs

• rugować impf

 

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

rug f

1. genitive plural of ruga

Further reading

• rug in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• rug in PWN's encyclopedia
• Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “rug”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna

Romagnol

Pronunciation

• (Central Romagnol): IPA^(key): [ˈɾuːɡ]

Noun

rug m pl

1. plural of rôg

References

Masotti, Adelmo (1996) Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano [Romagnol-Italian dictionary] (in Italian), Bologna: Zanichelli, page 514

Romanian

Etymology 1

From Latin rogus, probably borrowed in the 19th century or semi-learned. The linguists Candrea and Tiktin believed it to be inherited.

Noun

rug n (plural ruguri)

1. pyre

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	rug	rugul		ruguri	rugurile
genitive-dative	rug	rugului		ruguri	rugurilor
vocative	rugule			rugurilor

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin rubus (“bramble, briar”), from Proto-Italic *wruðos, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥dʰo- (“sweetbriar”). Compare Italian rovo, dialectal rogo. For the sound shift of Latin -b- to -g- in Romanian, compare neg, negură.

Noun

rug m (plural rugi)

1. bramble
2. dog rose
3. blackberry

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	rug	rugul		rugi	rugii
genitive-dative	rug	rugului		rugi	rugilor
vocative	rugule			rugilor

Synonyms

• măceș

Derived terms

• ruget

References

• rug in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rˠuk/

Verb

rug

1. past of beir