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Origin and history of row

row(n.1)

"series of people or things in a more or less straight line," Middle English reue, from late Old English reawe, rewe, earlier ræw "a row, line; succession, hedge-row," probably from Proto-Germanic *rai(h)waz (source also of Middle Dutch rie, Dutch rij "row;" Old High German rihan "to thread," riga "line;" German Reihe "row, line, series;" Old Norse rega "string"), which is possibly from PIE root *rei- "to scratch, tear, cut" (source also of Sanskrit rikhati "scratches," rekha "line").

The meaning "a number of houses in a line" is attested from mid-14c., according to OED chiefly Scottish and northern English. The meaning "line of seats in a theater" is by 1710. The meaning "line of plants in a field or garden" is by 1733, hence the figurative phrase hard row to hoe attested from 1823, American English.

row(v.)

"propel (a vessel) with oars or paddles," Middle English rouen (mid-14c.), from Old English rowan (intrans.) "go by water, row" (class VII strong verb; past tense reow, past participle rowen), from Proto-Germanic *ro- (source also of Old Norse roa, Dutch roeien, West Frisian roeije, Middle High German rüejen), from PIE root *ere- "to row." The figurative phrase row against the flood "attempt what is difficult" is from mid-12c. The muscle-building rowing-machine is attested by 1848.

row(n.2)

"noisy commotion," 1746, Cambridge student slang, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to rousel "drinking bout" (c. 1600), a shortened form of carousal. Klein suggests a back-formation from rouse (n.), mistaken as a plural (compare pea from pease).

also from 1746

Entries linking to row

carousal(n.)

"noisy drinking bout," 1735, from carouse (v.) + -al (2). The earlier noun was simply carouse "a drinking bout" (1550s).

rouse(v.)

mid-15c., rousen, intransitive, probably from Anglo-French or Old French reuser, ruser; Middle English Compendium compares 16c. French rousee "abrupt movement." Sometimes also said to be from Latin recusare "refuse, decline," with loss of the medial -c-. Originally in English a technical term in hawking, "to shaking the feathers of the body," but like many medieval hawking and hunting terms it is of obscure origin.

The sense of "cause game to rise from cover or lair" is from 1520s. The word became general from 16c. in the figurative, transitive, meaning "stir up, cause to start up by noise or clamor, provoke to activity; waken from torpor or inaction" (1580s); that of "to awaken, cause to start from slumber or repose" is recorded by 1590s. Related: Roused; rousing.

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rowdy
"a rough, quarrelsome person," 1808, originally "lawless backwoodsman," "Of American, but otherwise quite obscure, origin" [OED]. Perhaps from row (n.2) "noisy commotion" (itself of uncertain origin). The adjective, "having the manners of or conducting oneself like a rowdy, rough
course
c. 1300, "onward movement, motion forward, a running in a prescribed direction or over a prescribed distance; path or distance prescribed for a race, a race-course" from Old French cors "course; run, running; flow of a river" (12c.), from Latin cursus "a running; a journey; direc
quarrel
[angry dispute] mid-14c., querele, "dispute, altercation," also "ground for complaint," from Old French querele "matter, concern, business; dispute, controversy" (Modern French querelle) and directly from Latin querella "complaint, accusation; lamentation," from queri "to complai
range
area), roam with the purpose of searching or hunting," from Old French ranger, rangier, earlier rengier "to place in a row..., arrange; get into line," from reng "row, line," from Frankish *hring or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic...Sense of "to arrange in rows, make a row or rows of" is recorded from c. 1300; intransitive sense of "exist in a row or rows...
rank
early 14c., "row, line, or series;" c. 1400, a row of an army, from Old French renc, ranc "row, line" (Modern French rang...
file
1520s, "string or wire on which documents are strung," from French file "a row" (15c.), noun derived from filer "string documents...The sense "row of persons or things one behind another" (1590s) is originally military, from the French verb in the sense...
square
mid-13c., "mason's tool for measuring right angles, carpenter's square," from Old French esquire "a square, squareness," from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, a back-formation from *exquadrare "to square," from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + quadrare "make square, set in order, complete," fro
difference
mid-14c., "condition or relation of being other or different," also "any special mode of non-identity," from Old French difference "difference, distinction; argument, dispute" (12c.) and directly from Latin differentia "diversity, difference," from differentem (nominative differe
table
Middle English, from Old French table, tabel "board, square panel, plank; writing table; picture; food, fare" (11c.), and also a survival of late Old English tabele "flat and relatively thin surface of some hard material," especially "writing tablet (of slabs of wood, etc.,), gam

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