Etymology
A few different sources have been suggested for this word, but (1) most commentators equate it with ME
ros ‘boast, bragging, pride; praise, fame, commendation’, which it is usual to derive from an ON n. represented by MnIcel
hrós ‘praise’ (only the by-form
hrósan is attested in OIcel) (thus
OED,
MED, Bj., Knigge 82, Kullnick 16, GDS, Maetzner 310n, Luick Gram §383.1,TGD (as one option) ). The Icel n. is probably formed on
hrósa ‘to praise (often with the notion to vaunt, boast)’, which is best explained as the reflex of an earlier
*hrōþs- (cp. derived on the same root OIcel
hróðr ‘praise; fame, reputation; an encomium’, OS
hrōð, OHG
hrōd-,
hruad- ‘glory’, OE
hrōðor ‘solace, joy, pleasure, benefit’,
hrēð ‘victory, glory’, Go
hroþeigs ‘triumphant’). The other extant occurrences of ME
ros seem to contain ME close /o:/ (see further Dance) and the later Scots forms spelt <oi> and <u> also strongly point to ME /o:/, and thus derivation from ON
hrós (Flom 1900: 60) . (2) Some efforts have been made to explain
Gaw rous by recourse to an unrelated ON etymon with different vocalism, viz. ON
raus (cp. OIcel
raus ‘big, loud talk’, attested once only by
ONP c. 1400), probably derived on the v.
rausa ‘to talk loud and fast’ (the second possibility incl. in TGD). Its ulterior etymology is obscure, but it should probably be connected with similar words denoting speech and noise, notably OIcel
raust ‘voice’ and MLG, MDu
rūsen ‘to rush, storm’. These analogues are invoked by Emerson (1922: 370) on the grounds of sense and Savage (1931) on the grounds of phonology as well, arguing that a VAN /au, ɔu/ would explain the <ou> spelling in
Gaw. However there is no clear evidence for /ou/ as a reflex of this ON diphthong in the
Gaw MS and it could alternatively be posited that VAN /au, ɔu/ has here > ME /o:/ (though this would again be a relatively unusual reflex of this ON diphthong in the scribal dial of
Gaw), in which case ME /ro:s/ would be indistinguishable from the borrowing of ON
hrós as in (1). (3) The remaining, and least likely, alternative is to take
Gaw rous as indicating a form /ru:s/ and hypothesize a ME
*rūs 'noise, uproar, boasting' (Emerson 1922: 370). In that case, the closest comparanda are the LG and Du words cited in (2), of which
rous must then either be a loan or a previously unattested native reflex; but there is no other good evidence for such a form either in ME or later English.
PGmc Ancestor
(1) *hrōþs-; (2) *raus- (3) *rūs-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
(2) raus ‘big, loud talk’
(ONP (2) raus (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(1) Far rósa, Icel hrósa, Norw rôsa, Dan rose, Sw rosa; (2) Icel rausa, Norw rausa
OE Cognate
Phonological and morphological markers
[ON /au/ < PGmc */au/]
(may not be applicable)
Summary category
D1c