ᚱᚨᛇᚺᚨᚾ

Proto-Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *raihô, *raihą (“deer”).

Noun

ᚱᚨᛇᚺᚨᚾ (raïhan) m (genitive singular)

1. roe deer
   • 5th century, Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus

Usage notes

It is unclear whether this word is Proto-Norse or Proto-English, and the two languages were quite similar at the time. The single-barred variant of the *haglaz rune (ᚺ as opposed to ᚻ) is characteristic of Nordic inscriptions, but was used early on in the history of Old English as well, so the identification is inconclusive.

Descendants

• Old English: rāha, rāa, rā m (rǣġe f)
  • Middle English: ro, roo, ra, raa, roa
    • English: roe
    • Scots: ra, rae
• Old Norse: rá f
  • Icelandic: rá
  • Faroese: rá
  • Norwegian: rå
  • Old Swedish: rā
    • Swedish: rå
  • Danish: rå