rugby

English

rugby

Alternative forms

Rugby

Etymology

1823: Named after Rugby School in Warwickshire where William Webb Ellis ‘with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the rugby game’. From the plaque at the school.

Noun

rugby (uncountable)

A sport where players can hold or kick an ovoid ball. The ball cannot be handled forwards and points are scored by touching the ball to the ground in the area past their opponent’s territory or kicking the ball between goalposts and over a crossbar.
The scrum is a distinctive element of rugby.

Synonyms

rugby football, rugger

Derived terms

Terms derived from rugby

Translations

a sport where players can hold or kick an ovoid ball

Afrikaans: rugby (af)
Arabic: رجبي (ar) (rágbī, rájbī) m, ركبي (ar) (rákbī) m, رغبي (ar) (ráġbī) m
Armenian: ռեգբի (hy) (ṙegbi)
Azeri: reqbi (az)
Belarusian: рэгбі (be) (réhbi) n
Bulgarian: ръгби (bg) (rǎ̀gbi) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 橄欖球 (cmn), 橄榄球 (cmn) (gǎnlǎnqiú)
Czech: ragby (cs) f
Dutch: rugby (nl) n
Esperanto: rugbeo (eo)
Estonian: ragbi (et)
Finnish: rugby (fi)
French: rugby (fr) m
Georgian: რაგბი (ka) (ragbi)
German: Rugby (de) m
Greek: ράγκμπι (el) (rágbi)
Hindi: रग्बी (hi) (ragbī)
Irish: rugbaí (ga) m
Japanese: ラグビー (ja) (ragubī)
Korean: 럭비 (ko) (reogbi)
Latvian: regbijs (lv) m

Lithuanian: regbis (lt) m
Macedonian: рагби (mk) (rágbi) n
Manx: ruggyr (gv) m
Maori: whutupaoro (mi)
Persian: راگبی (fa) (râgbi)
Portuguese: rugby (pt) m, (used only in Portugal) râguebi (pt) m, (used only in Brazil) rúgbi (pt) m
Romanian: rugbi (ro) n, rugby (ro) n
Russian: регби (ru) (rɛ́gbi) n
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: рагби (sh) m

Roman: ragbi (sh) m, rugby (sh) m
Slovak: ragby (sk) f
Slovene: ragbi (sl) m
Sotho: rakebi (st)
Swahili: raga (sw)
Tamil: ரக்பி (ta) (rakpi)
Thai: รักบี้ (th) (rák bêe)
Tongan: aka pulu
Turkish: ragbi (tr)
Ukrainian: регбі (uk) (réhbi) n
Urdu: رگبی (ur) (ragbī)
Vietnamese: bóng bầu dục (vi)
Welsh: rygbi (cy) m