Etymology
(1) Probably referring to the clouds,
rak at
Gaw 1695 (‘In rede rudede vpon rak rises þe sunne’) is usually identified with ME
rak 'a rain cloud, storm cloud, storm (etc.)' for which there are two plausible alternative sources (and a blend of the two is also conceivable): (a) An ON noun represented by Norw dial
rak ‘flotsam, wreckage’ (also Sw
vrak,
rak, Dan
vrag), which seems to be a derivative on the
a-grade of the root of the vb. PGmc *
wrekan- (as in OE
wrecan ‘to drive, advance, fulfil, utter, expel, persecute, avenge’ etc., Go
(ga)wrikan, OIcel
reka (older variant
vreka), OFris
wreka, OS
wrekan, OHG
rehhan) with ON loss of initial /w/ before /r/, and thus closely comparable to OE
wræc in the sense ‘something driven’, is the source suggested by most early commentators. OIcel
reki (wk. masc.) ‘jetsom, thing drifted ashore’ (and the rarer str. neut.
rek) are still nearer semantically to the Norw word, though on the
e-grade. The Scandinavian words do not normally seem to refer to meteorological phenomena; apparent exceptions such as Norw
rak in the sense ‘light wind’ and Jutlandic
rag ‘small clouds’ are perhaps better explained as belonging with, or influenced by, words of other origin, inc. those discussed under (b.ii). (b)
MED prefers to derive
rak from OE
racu ‘storm, cloud’ (and
OED3 cites this as an alternative to (a)), which is a much better fit semantically. However the failure of open-syllable lengthening in ME then must be explained;
MED and
OED3 both suggest possible influence from the ON words treated under (a) above, to which
MED adds OE
wræc. This OE
racu is attested only once (at
GenA 1355), and its etymology is obscure;
OED3 offers two possibilities: (i) A connection with OE
racu (
raca,
ræce) ‘rake’, cp. OS
raka, Sw
raka (also OIcel
raka ‘to rake or sweep away’,
rak ‘rakings of hay in a field; wick in a lamp’), an
a-grade derivation on the root of PGmc *
rekan- (as in Go
rikan ‘to heap up, rake up’, OE
gerecan ‘to coagulate’,
inrecan ‘to heap up’ etc.). This is formally very apposite, but more of a stretch semantically;
OED3 posits ‘the underlying idea of a heaping up or gathering together of clouds’. (ii) Derivation from a PGmc base *
rak- as seen in OIcel
raki, Norw. dial
rake ‘moisture, dampness’, perhaps ult. sharing an origin with OE
regn, OIcel
regn etc. ‘rain’. A root *
rak- denoting moisture is a plausible source for OE
racu ‘cloud’, as also perhaps wholly or partly for the Norw
rak ‘light wind’, Jutlandic
rag ‘small clouds’ (and cp. Shetl.
rag ‘fog which drifts before the wind, fine rain with wind’) discussed by Torp (s.v.
rak n.1). (2) Vant instead reads Gaw 1695
rak as another instance of
rake, denoting 'the "path" upon which the men are riding'. This is possible, but less plausible in context. On the possible input from ON
rák ‘stripe, channel, path’ (etc.), see
rake.
PGmc Ancestor
(1a) *wrak-; (1b) *rak-; (2) see rake.
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
(1a) cp. rek, reki 'jetsom, thing drifted ashore'; (2) rák 'stripe, channel, path' (etc.)
(ONP (1a) cp. rek (sb.), reki (sb.); (2) rák (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(1a) Norw dial rak, Dan vrag, Sw vrak, rak; (2) Far rák, Icel rák, Norw råk, Sw dial råk, Shetl rog
OE Cognate
(1a) cp. wræc 'misery; what is driven'; (1b) racu ‘storm, cloud’
Phonological and morphological markers
[ON loss of initial */w/- before /r/]
(may not be applicable)
Summary category
DD2