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Origin and history of roe

roe(n.1)

"mass of fish eggs," mid-15c., roughe, probably from an unrecorded Old English *hrogn, from Proto-Germanic *khrugnaz (source also of Old Norse hrogn, Danish rogn, Swedish rom, Flemish rog, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch roge, Old High German rogo, German Rogen "roe"), from PIE *krek- "frog spawn, fish eggs" (source also of Lithuanian kurklė, Russian krjak "spawn of frogs"). The exact relation of the Germanic words to each other is unclear, and the Middle English word might be rather from Middle Dutch.

roe(n.2)

"species of small deer of the Old World," Middle English ro, from Old English ra, raha, from Proto-Germanic *raikhaz (source also of Old Norse ra, Old Saxon reho, Middle Dutch and Dutch ree, Old High German reh, German Reh "roe"), a word of uncertain origin; perhaps from PIE root *rei- "streaked, spotted, striped in various colors." Improperly used of the adult female of the hart.

Entries linking to roe

roebuck(n.)

"male of the roe deer," c. 1200, from roe (n.2) + buck (n.1). Similar formation in Dutch reebok, German Rehbock, Danish raabuck.

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    Trends of roe

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    John Doe
    The fictitious defendant was Richard Roe. If female, Jane Doe, Jane Roe....
    caviar
    also caviare, "roe of certain large fish, salted and served as food," 1550s, from French caviar (16c.), from Italian caviaro...
    spawn
    early 15c., spawnen, of a fish, "to shed roe" (intransitive), from Anglo-French espaundre, Old French espandre "to spread...
    Monroe
    the surname (also Munroe, etc.) is said to be ultimately from the River Roe in Derry, Ireland....
    room
    from PIE root *reue- (1) "to open; space" (source also of Avestan ravah- "space," Latin rus "open country," Old Irish roi, roe...
    carol
    c. 1300, "joyful song," also a kind of dance in a ring, from Old French carole "kind of dance in a ring, round dance accompanied by singers," a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Medieval Latin choraula "a dance to the flute," from Latin choraules "flute-player," from Greek k
    coral
    general name for the hard, calcareous skeleton excreted by certain marine polyps, c. 1300, from Old French coral (12c., Modern French corail), from Latin corallium, from Greek korallion, a word perhaps of Semitic origin (compare Hebrew goral "small pebble," Arabic garal "small st
    fish
    "a vertebrate which has gills and fins adapting it for living in the water," Old English fisc "fish," from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German fisc, Old Norse fiskr, Middle Dutch visc, Dutch vis, German Fisch, Gothic fisks), perhaps from
    egg
    "the body formed in the females of all animals (with the exception of a few of the lowest type) in which by impregnation the development of the fetus takes place," mid-14c., egge, mostly in northern England dialect, from Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajja(m) (source also of
    hard
    Old English heard "solid and firm, not soft," also, "difficult to endure, carried on with great exertion," also, of persons, "severe, rigorous, harsh, cruel," from Proto-Germanic *hardu- (source also of Old Saxon hard, Old Frisian herd, Dutch hard, Old Norse harðr "hard," Old Hig

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