rubor

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰéh₁ti

Proto-Italic *ruðēō

Latin rubeō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Latin ruborbor.

English rubor

Borrowed from Latin rubor.

Noun

rubor (uncountable)

1. (pathology) redness, one of the main signs of inflammation

References

• rubor on The Free Dictionary

Anagrams

• Robur, burro

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rubōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ruˈβur]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ruˈbo]
• IPA^(key): (Central, Northwestern) [ruˈβor]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ruˈboɾ]

Noun

rubor m or f (plural rubors)

1. blush, blushing
2. redness (inflammation)

Derived terms

• ruboritzar
• ruborós

Further reading

• “rubor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰéh₁ti

Proto-Italic *ruðēō

Latin rubeō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Latin rubor

From rubeō (“to be red, reddish”) + -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈrʊ.bɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈruː.bor]

Noun

rubor m (genitive rubōris); third declension

1. redness
2. (by extension) blush
3. (figuratively) modesty
4. (figuratively) shame, disgrace

   Dixit duas res ei rubori fuisse.

   He said that two things had abashed him.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	rubor	rubōrēs
genitive	rubōris	rubōrum
dative	rubōrī	rubōribus
accusative	rubōrem	rubōrēs
ablative	rubōre	rubōribus
vocative	rubor	rubōrēs

Related terms

• rubēdō
• rubefaciō
• rubelliānus
• rubelliō
• rubellulus
• rubellus
• rubēns
• rubeō
• ruber
• rubēscō
• rubeus
• rubicundulus
• rubicundus
• rubidus
• rubrīca
• rubricātus
• rubrīcō
• rubrīcōsus
• rubrus

Descendants

• → Catalan: rubor
• Old French: rovur, roveur
• → Portuguese: rubor, arrebol (via arrebolar)
• → Spanish: rubor, arrebol (via arrebolar)

References

• “rubor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rubor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “rubor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰéh₁ti

Proto-Italic *ruðēō

Latin rubeō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Latin ruborlbor.

Portuguese rubor

Learned borrowing from Latin rubor (“redness”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboʁ/ [huˈboh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboʁ/ [huˈboh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboɾ/ [huˈboɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboʁ/ [χuˈboχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboɻ/ [huˈboɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboɾ/ [ʁuˈβoɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈboɾ/ [ʁuˈβoɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈbo.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: ru‧bor

Noun

rubor m (plural rubores)

1. blush
   • 1995, José Saramago, Ensaio sobre a cegueira, Caminho:

     Não tinha sequer olhos para notar uma palidez, para observar um rubor da circulação periférica, […]

     He did not even have eyes to notice a paleness, to observe a blush in the peripheral circulation, […]

Related terms

• rubro
• arrebol

Further reading

• “rubor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “rubor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰéh₁ti

Proto-Italic *ruðēō

Latin rubeō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Latin ruborlbor.

Spanish rubor

Learned borrowing from Latin rubor (“redness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruˈboɾ/ [ruˈβ̞oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ru‧bor

Noun

rubor m (plural rubores)

1. blushing, blush
2. (by extension) embarrassment, shame

   Synonym: vergüenza

   • 2020 February 14, “Sin dinero para motel o condones: la crisis restringe sexualidad de jóvenes venezolanos”, in Newsweek‎^[1], archived from the original on 24 January 2025:

     Cuando está de cacería en Tinder, la popular aplicación de citas, Jhoanna^[sic] pregunta sin rubor a sus potenciales amantes por su “capacidad” económica.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• ruboroso

Further reading

• “rubor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025