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Rug·by

(rŭgbē)

A borough of central England east-southeast of Birmingham. It is the site of Rugby School (founded 1567), where the game of rugby was developed in the 1800s.

rug·by also Rug·by

(rŭgbē)

A game played by two teams of 15 players each on a rectangular field 110 yards long with goal lines and goal posts at either end, the object being to run with an oval ball across the opponent's goal line or kick it through the upper portion of the goal posts, with forward passing and time-outs not permitted.

[After Rugby School, England.]

(click for a larger image)

rugby

teams from Australia (yellow) and France (blue) at a 2009 rugby union match

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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