ruddock
See also: Ruddock
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English ruddocke, ruddok, roddok, from Old English rudduc, ruduc (“robin, ruddock”, literally “little red one, red-ling”), equivalent to rud (“redness”) + -ock (diminutive suffix). The Welsh rhuddog, and Cornish rudhek (“the redbreast”) are probably from the English, although a derivation from a British Celtic *roudākos (< *roudos "red") for all three cannot be ruled out. More at rud.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ruddock (plural ruddocks)
- (archaic) The European robin.
- 1595, Edmund Spenser, Epithalamion:
- The Ouzell shrills; the Ruddock warbles soft.
- 1827, Thomas Hood, The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies:
- The sweet And shrilly ruddock, with its bleeding breast
- (obsolete) A piece of gold money (probably because the gold of coins was often reddened by copper alloy).
- 1611, John Florio, Queen Anna's New World of Words, or Dictionarie of the Italian and English tongues:
- Great pieces of gold […] red ruddocks.
- (obsolete) A variety of red apple, used for cidermaking.
References edit
- “ruddock”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.