Etymology: Probably < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic rá , Old Swedish ra (Swedish rå ), Old Danish raa , ruo (Danish rå )), cognate with Middle Dutch rā (Dutch ra ), Middle Low German rā , Old High German raha (Middle High German rahe , German Rahe , Rah : see note), and further cognate with Middle Low German rēch stiff (especially of horses), Middle High German rāch , raehe , in the same sense, and perhaps with Middle Low German rik horizontal pole (see rack n.⁴), Middle High German regen to tower, to be stiff, and Norwegian regional rage tall man, thin pole or tree trunk, råge thin pole (both rare), Swedish regional raga (small) tree trunk (Swedish rage ); further etymology uncertain and disputed. In some instances perhaps < Middle Dutch rā (see above). In Shetland use (in α. forms) via the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by the Scandinavian forms listed above. The Older Scots forms ro , row reflect either reborrowing from a Scandinavian language (after the rounding in those languages of long ā to long open ō ) or the influence of English forms (although the word is not attested as a simplex in English sources). Compare roband n., robbin n., raeband n.In Old High German and Middle High German usually denoting a pole or length of wood in general; the nautical sense in Middle High German and German is apparently after Low German. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records the word as still in use (in β. forms) in Shetland in 1967.