Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian rīke , rīk (West Frisian ryk ), Middle Dutch rīke , rijc , etc. (Dutch rijk ), Old Saxon rīki (Middle Low German rīke , rīk ), Old High German rīhhi (Middle High German rīche , rīch , German reich ), Old Icelandic ríkr , Old Swedish rīker (Swedish rik ), Old Danish righ , riigh , rikir , rikær (Danish rig ), Gothic reiks (recorded as genitive plural, reikjane ), related to the Germanic base of riche n. and also to that of Gothic reiks ruler; all three of these words (i.e. a Germanic ja- stem adjective, ja- stem noun, and root noun) ultimately reflect a borrowing < the Celtic base of Gaulish rig- , rix , which is recorded chiefly in personal names, in which it is very frequent, chiefly in the sense ‘king’ (compare e.g. Biturix , lit. ‘king of the world’) and apparently also in the sense ‘rich in, having an abundance of’ (compare e.g. Secorix , probably lit. ‘rich in strength’), and is also attested in place names, e.g. Rigomagus , lit. ‘fort of the king, royal fort’, the name of several places (now e.g. Remagen (Rhineland), Ruoms (Ardèche)), and which is also found in British, compare Rigodunon , lit. ‘fort of the king, royal fort’, the name of a place near York (now lost) < the same Indo-European base as classical Latin rēx king (see rex n.¹); the borrowing from Celtic into Germanic is shown by the root vowel (*ī rather than *ē ) of the Germanic words; it is unclear whether the derivative formations were formed in Germanic from a borrowed base word, or existed already in Celtic; the borrowing appears to have occurred before the Grimm's law change of *g to *k (unless the *k results from sound-substitution, since Germanic *g was a fricative in all positions, and hence did not correspond exactly to the Celtic stop *g ). In Middle English the use of the word may have been reinforced by Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French riche (French riche ) powerful, noble, mighty, wealthy (11th cent.), precious, valuable, sumptuous, splendid (12th cent.), (with de ) abounding in (13th cent.), ultimately showing a borrowing < a Germanic language, as also do Old Occitan ric , Catalan ric (12th cent.), Spanish rico (12th cent.), Portuguese rico (13th cent.), Italian ricco (13th cent.). Influence of the French word may have been a factor in the disappearance of the β. forms (which probably result partly from levelling of an unassibilated plosive from parts of the paradigm in which a back vowel immediately followed, and partly from the influence of the Scandinavian cognates).In English, as in the other Germanic languages, sense A. 2 apparently arose as a specialization of sense A. 1, material wealth being taken to be a usual attribute of any powerful or noble person. A parallel semantic development is found also in French and in other Romance languages. The gradual separation of the senses (and eventual loss of sense A. 1) reflects cultural and material changes in medieval and early modern society. The base is a very common element in Germanic personal names, compare Old English Ælfrīc , Æðelrīc , Godrīc , Wulfrīc , etc., Frankish (in Latinized form) Childericus , Chilpericus , etc., Old High German Alberīch , Fridurīh (German Friedrich ), Vulferīch (German Ulrich ), etc., Old Icelandic Alfríkr , Eiríkr , Gunnríkr , etc., Gothic Friþareikeis , (in Latinized form) Ermanaricus , Theudericus , etc., and is also very frequent in Celtic personal names, compare Gaulish Dumnorix , Vercingetorix , etc. (see above). In the early Old English runic form riicnæ (from the inscription on the Ruthwell Cross (c700)) the stem-final consonant is spelt with a cēn -rune, indicating palatalization and assibilation of the original velar plosive /k/. The isolated Old English (West Saxon) form riece shows an inverted spelling due to monophthongization of īe (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §300). Old English forms in -cc- (chiefly late West Saxon) show doubling of the consonant before r and consequent shortening of the stem vowel (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §454, R. M. Hogg Gram. Old Eng. (1992) I. §5.199). Attested in early Middle English in bynames and surnames, as William le Richeman (a1200: see rich man n.), William Richeloverd (1221), John Richandgood (1327), etc.; compare also Godwinus le Riche (1185; earlier as Godwinus Diues (1177)), Mosse le riche (1193), although it is uncertain whether these are to be interpreted as reflecting the English or Anglo-Norman word.

Etymology: < rich adj. Compare Old Frisian rīkia to become rich, Middle Dutch rīken , rijcken to make powerful, to make rich, to become powerful, to become rich, Middle Low German rīken , rīchen to make rich, to become rich, Old High German rīhhēn to make rich, to become rich (Middle High German rīchen ). Compare enrich v., and also earlier rix v.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. The phonology of the Middle English forms would accord well with an origin as the reflex of an unattested Old English verb *ryccan, which on formal grounds could be cognate with Middle Dutch rucken to pull, jerk, to move (something) with energy, to remove (something) with force (Dutch rukken ), Middle Low German rücken , rucken (transitive and intransitive) to move, shift, budge, to change one's position, leave, to change (a situation), Old High German rucchen to leave, go off, to increase (Middle High German rücken , rucken to go off, to move (something) rapidly, to budge, push, German rücken ), Old Icelandic rykkja to pull, to pull roughly and hastily, to draw (a sword), to run, move, Old Swedish rykka , rykkia to pull, to pull roughly and hastily, to draw (a sword), to advance (Swedish rykka ), Old Danish rykke to pull, move, advance (Danish rykke ); these verbs (and corresponding nouns) are probably further cognate with Old English roccian rock v.¹; further etymology uncertain. If this etymology is correct, it is likely that the Middle English word shows semantic influence from rech v. and perhaps also from rich adj.The evidence for the word is restricted almost entirely to verse of the alliterative tradition, especially in the works of the Gawain-poet (quot. a1500 at sense 5 being apparently the only exception).