Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French rute, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French route, Old French, Middle French rote , Middle French routte , rotte (French †route ) company (c1160 in a route in company, together), armed band, troop (c1177), group of people more generally (beginning of the 13th cent. or earlier), drove (of cattle) (c1290 or earlier, apparently only in Anglo-Norman), gang (of criminals) (1344 or earlier) < classical Latin rupta , feminine of ruptus broken, past participle of rumpere to break (see rumpent n.), the original sense being ‘division, detachment’. Compare post-classical Latin ruta , rutta band of marauders (frequently from late 12th cent. in British sources, from early 13th cent. in continental sources), unlawful assembly (frequently from 14th cent. in British sources), riot, disturbance (15th cent. as rupta ). Compare Old Occitan rota (13th cent.). Compare later rot n.² and the Germanic forms cited at that entry. For a different development of classical Latin rupta compare route n.¹There is apparently no French variant of this noun corresponding to the δ. forms, but compare (also ultimately < classical Latin ruptus , rupta ) Old French, Middle French roupte , variant of route rupture, break, action of cutting trees (1318 in both forms), Middle French roupte , variant of route route n.¹, and also Middle French roupt , variant of Old French, Middle French rout (c1177 as rot ), former past participle of rompre (see rompu adj.; compare rout n.⁶).

Etymology: < rout v.³ (with the two senses compare rout v.³ 2 and 4, respectively).Quot. c1400 at sense 1 has alternatively been interpreted as an earlier example of rout n.³ 2.

Etymology: Either < rout v.⁴, or the reflex of a borrowing < early Scandinavian (compare Norwegian raut lowing sound, bellow (of cattle), roar < raute rout v.⁴). Compare rout n.⁴An earlier example (in sense 2) may perhaps be shown by quot. c1400 at rout n.² 1.

Etymology: < rout v.² Compare also Norwegian regional (southern) rut din, roar, racket (see rut n.³). Compare rout n.³ Compare later rut n.³ and rote n.⁵As a result of formal and semantic similarity sometimes confused with rout n.³, which has in turn apparently influenced the pronunciation.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; probably ultimately imitative of the bird's call. Compare Icelandic hrota brent goose (17th cent.; probably ultimately of imitative origin, although apparently influenced by folk-etymological association with hrot snore, snoring < an ablaut variant (zero-grade) of the same Scandinavian base as Old Icelandic hrjóta to snore: see rout v.¹). Compare earlier rood goose n. (especially the α. forms) and the Germanic forms cited at that entry. Compare also earlier route n.²

Etymology: < Middle French, French †route military defeat, flight (15th cent.), use as noun of the feminine of rout , former alternative past participle (beside rompu ) of rompre to break up or disperse (an army, etc.) (c1100 in Old French), specific use of rompre to break (see rompu adj.). Compare Middle French rout defeated (second half of the 14th cent. in armee route ). Compare also Middle French, French déroute defeat, flight, rout (see derout n.) and Middle French, French route rout n.¹ Compare further Anglo-Norman route trail of destruction (second half of the 12th cent. or earlier; apparently a specific use of route route n.¹).

Etymology: Origin unknown.Most of the evidence comes from documents relating to Ireland, drawn up by Richard Boyle, 1st earl of Cork (1566–1643). Quot. 1649 is from Herefordshire, but there is a possible connection, as Boyle came from a Herefordshire family. Compare the following editorial note referring to quot. 1635:1866 A. B. Grosart in Lismore Papers IV. 252 (note) ‘Rout’ = a close, in this place. Generally, it means a measure of land. Compare also the following homonym in the same collection of documents, although its relationship with the headword is unclear:1632 R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) III. 26 To give him full rout, and in liew of waste in the worckmanship, I gave him the overplus of the iron he had receaved. Perhaps compare also the following from a similar document, also from Ireland, although again in apparently different sense (perhaps compare later rout n.⁸):?1598–9 Clancarthy Survey (Lamb. Palace: Carew 625) f. 22^v, in Desmond Survey (CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts) Rout, a cesse for horsemeat for the earles or his wiues owne horses vpon the barony of Magonny.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps < route n.¹ (compare with a similar semantic development pad n.³ 2), or perhaps a compositorial misreading of runt n. (although this is first attested later in the relevant sense: see runt n. 1c).Perhaps compare quot. ?1598-9 at rout n.⁷

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps the same word as rout n.⁶ Alternatively, perhaps compare root n.² 1. N.E.D. (1910) gives the pronunciation as (rɑut) /raʊt/.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian hrūta , rūta to wheeze (only in hrūtande , rūtande ), Old Saxon hrūtan to snore (Middle Low German rūten , rōten to wheeze), Middle Dutch rūten to buzz, hum, whirr, to resound, to cry (Dutch ruiten (of birds) to twitter, chirp, sing), Old High German rūzan , rūzōn to snore, to hiss, to whirr (Middle High German rūzen to snore, to roar, to buzz, to move swiftly and noisily, German regional (southern) raußen , †rußen to snore, to roar), Old Icelandic hrjóta , rjóta to snore, to roar, Faroese rjóta , róta to snore, Norwegian ryte , (regional) rjota to snore, to growl, probably < a Germanic base ultimately of imitative origin. Compare rout v.² and also discussion at rout v.³In many cases (following the loss of initial h- ), the forms in various Germanic languages are indistinguishable from the respective reflexes of the Germanic base of Old English rēotan to weep, wail (see rout v.⁴); these words have clearly influenced each other semantically. In Old English a strong verb of Class II.

Etymology: Probably the same word as rout v.¹ (compare the senses of the Germanic cognates cited at that entry). Compare also Norwegian (Nynorsk) ruta to make a loud noise, storm, rumble, roar (see rout v.³).

Etymology: Cognate with Old Icelandic hrjóta to rebound, fall, fly, be flung, Faroese róta to fall, tumble down, Norwegian ryta , (regional) rjota to fall, plunge; further etymology uncertain: perhaps ultimately < the same Indo-European base as Old Prussian krūt to fall (see reose v.). However, the Germanic base is morphologically identical with that of rout v.¹, and it is possible that rout v.³ represents a semantic development from the same base (perhaps via a sense ‘to move swiftly and noisily’, compare Middle High German rūzen , in this sense (see rout v.¹), which may properly belong here). Compare later atrout v.Compare also Norwegian (Nynorsk) ruta to make a loud noise, storm, rumble, roar, to rush, move violently, probably representing a merging of at least two distinct Germanic base forms: an ablaut variant (zero-grade) of the Germanic base of rout v.³ and a morphologically identical ablaut variant (zero-grade) of the Germanic base of either rout v.¹ or (following the loss of initial h- ) of Old English rēotan to weep, wail (see rout v.⁴); compare discussion at rout v.¹ In Old English a strong verb of Class II; distinctively strong inflections survive into Middle English.

Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic rauta to roar, Norwegian raute to low, to moo, to bellow, Old Swedish röta to bellow, to roar (Swedish regional röta , rauta , rota , råta )) < an ablaut variant (o-grade) of the same Germanic base as Old English rēotan to wail, Old High German riozan to wail, to roar (Middle High German riezen to wail), Old Icelandic rjóta to roar, Old Swedish riuta , ryta to roar, to howl, to wail (Swedish regional ryta , ruta to roar, to howl), Danish regional ryde to low, to moo < the same Indo-European base as (reflecting various ablaut grades) classical Latin rudere (also rūdere ) to cry, to bray, Lithuanian raudoti to weep, wail, Old Church Slavonic rydati to weep, wail, Sanskrit rud- to weep, wail < an extended form of the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek ὠρύεσθαι to howl, roar (see rumour n.); probably ultimately of imitative origin.