rug

See also: rúg and rüg

English

Etymology

Origin uncertain; probably of North Germanic origin, compare dialectal Norwegian rugga (“coarse coverlet”), Swedish rugg (“rough entangled hair”), from Old Norse rǫgg (“shagginess; tuft”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwō (“long wool”), related to English rag and rough.

Pronunciation

• enPR: rŭg, IPA^(key): /ɹʌɡ/
• Rhymes: -ʌɡ

Noun

rug (plural rugs)

1. A partial covering for a floor. [1624]
2. (Britain, Australia) A (usually thick) piece of fabric used for warmth (especially on a bed); a blanket. [1591]
   • 1855, William Howitt, A Boy′s Adventures in the Wilds of Australia: or, Herbert′s Note-Book, page 254,

     They then cut down a quantity of gum-tree leaves for a bed, and threw their rugs upon them ready for bed-time.

   • 1906 July 27, Government Gazette of Western Australia, page 2297,

     Furnish every sleeping apartment with a sufficient number of toilet utensils and bedsteads, and sufficient bedding so that each bed shall be provided with a mattress, two sheets, a rug, and, in winter time, not less than one additional rug.

   • 1950 April, Dental Journal of Australia, Volume 22, page 181,

     My own son had a bunny rug of which he was very fond and on being put to bed he would always demand his “bunny rug to suck his finger with.″

   • 1958, Arthur Hailey, John Castle. Runway Zero-Eight. Bantham Books

     She tucked in a rug round the woman. “How’s that?” The woman nodded gratefully.

   • 1997, Alan Sharpe, Vivien Encel, Murder!: 25 True Australian Crimes, page 22,

     He brought with him a rug and a sheet, and lay down by the fire.

3. (historical, now rare) A kind of coarse, heavy frieze, formerly used for clothing. [1547]
   • Holinshed

     They spin the choicest rug in Ireland. A friend of mine […] repaired to Paris Garden clad in one of these Waterford rugs.

4. (historical, now rare) A cloak or mantle made of such a frieze. [1577]
5. (obsolete, rare) A person wearing a rug. [1627]
6. A cloth covering for a horse. [1790]
7. (obsolete, rare) A dense layer of natural vegetation that precludes the growth of crops. [1792]
8. (slang) The female pubic hair. [1893]
9. A rough, woolly, or shaggy dog.
10. (slang) A wig; a hairpiece. [1940]
11. (colloquial) A dense growth of chest hair. [1954]

Usage notes

• (partial floor covering): The terms rug and carpet are not precise synonyms: a rug covers part of the floor; a carpet covers most or a large area of the floor; a fitted carpet runs wall-to-wall.

Synonyms

• (small carpet): carpet, mat
• (wig): toupee, wig

Derived terms

Derived terms

• area rug
• cut a rug

• scatter rug
• snug as a bug in a rug

Translations

partial floor covering

• Arabic: سَجَّادَة‏‎ f (sajjāda)
• Armenian: գորգ (hy) (gorg)
• Azeri: xalça (az)
• Belarusian: кілімо́к m (kilimók)
• Bulgarian: килимче́ (bg) n (kilimčé)
• Catalan: catifa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地毯 (zh) (dìtǎn), 毯 (zh) (tǎn)

• Czech: kobereček (cs) m
• Danish: måtte (da) c, tæppe (da) n
• Dutch: tapijt (nl)
• Esperanto: tapiŝeto, mato (eo)
• Faroese: teppi (fo) n
• Finnish: matto (fi)
• French: tapis (fr)
• Georgian: ხალიჩა (xaliča)
• German: Teppich (de) m, Brücke (de) f
• Hebrew: שָׁטִיחַ‏‎ (he) m (shatíakh)
• Hindi: ग़ालीचा m (ġālīcā)
• Italian: tappeto (it), tappetino, scendiletto (it)
• Japanese: ラグ (ragu), 絨毯 (ja) (じゅうたん, jūtan)
• Kazakh: кілемше (kilemşe)
• Korean: 깔개 (kkalgae)
• Kyrgyz: килемче (kilemçe)

• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: тепих m (tepih), ќилим m (ḱilim)
• Maori: tarapouahi
• Mongolian: хивс (mn) (hivs)
• Navajo: diyogí n
• Persian: قالیچه‏‎ (fa) (qâliče)
• Polish: dywanik (pl) m
• Portuguese: tapete (pt) m, tapetinho m
• Russian: ко́врик (ru) m (kóvrik)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тепих m, ћилим m

  Roman: tepih (sh) m, ćilim (sh) m

• Slovak: koberček m
• Slovene: preproga (sl) f
• Spanish: tapete m, alfombra (es) f, alfombrilla (es) f
• Swahili: kitamba (sw)
• Swedish: matta (sv) c
• Tajik: қолича (qoliča)
• Taos: hálgoną
• Thai: พรม (prom)
• Ukrainian: килимо́к (uk) m (kylymók)
• Urdu: غالیچہ‏‎ m (ġālīca), قالیچہ‏‎ m (qālīca)
• Uzbek: gilamcha (uz)

thick piece of fabric used for warmth

• Finnish: viltti (fi), huopa (fi)

• French: couverture (fr)

coarse, heavy frieze

• Finnish: karkea friisikangas

covering for a horse

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: покрѝва̄ч m

  Roman: pokrìvāč (sh) m

rough, woolly, or shaggy dog

• Finnish: karvaturri (fi)

wig — see wig

Verb

rug (third-person singular simple present rugs, present participle rugging, simple past and past participle rugged)

1. (Scotland) To pull roughly or hastily; to plunder; to spoil; to tear.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

Derived terms

• rug up

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for rug in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Further reading

• rug in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• rug in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• rug at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• GRU

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch rug.

Noun

rug (plural rûe or rûens, diminutive ruggie)

1. (plural chiefly rûe) back (rear of the body)
2. (plural chiefly rûens) hill; ridge

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Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish rugh, from Old Norse rugr, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrugʰyo-. Compare Norwegian rug, Swedish råg, Icelandic rúgur, Dutch rogge, Low German Rogg, German Roggen, English rye.

Noun

rug c (singular definite rugen, not used in plural form)

1. rye (Secale cereale)

Verb

rug

1. imperative of ruge

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʏx
• IPA^(key): /rʏx/

• audio

  (file)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch rugge, from Old Dutch ruggi, from Proto-Germanic *hrugjaz.

Noun

rug m (plural ruggen, diminutive ruggetje n or rugje n)

1. back
2. (geology) ridge

Derived terms

• rugvin
• rugzak

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish ·ruc, prototonic form of ro·ucc, perfect tense of beirid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɾˠʊɡ]

Verb

rug

1. past analytic of beir

Further reading

• "rug" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

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Manx

Verb

rug (verbal noun ruggal, past participle ruggit)

1. to bear (give birth to)

Synonyms

• behr
• ymmyrk

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Norwegian Bokmål

rug

Etymology

From Old Norse rugr, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrugʰyo-. Compare Danish rug, Swedish råg, Icelandic rúgur, Dutch rogge, German Roggen, English rye.

Noun

rug m (definite singular rugen)

1. rye (the grass Secale cereale or its grains as food)

References

• “rug” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse rugr, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrugʰyo-. Compare Danish rug, Swedish råg, Icelandic rúgur, Dutch rogge, German Roggen, English rye.

Noun

rug m (definite singular rugen)

1. rye (as above)

References

• “rug” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Romanian

Etymology 1

From Latin rogus.

Noun

rug n (plural ruguri)

1. pyre

Declension

declension of rug

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) rug	rugul	(niște) ruguri	rugurile
genitive/dative	(unui) rug	rugului	(unor) ruguri	rugurilor
vocative	rugule		rugurilor

Etymology 2

From Latin rubus (“bramble, briar”).

Noun

rug m (plural rugi)

1. bramble

Declension

declension of rug

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) rug	rugul	(niște) rugi	rugii
genitive/dative	(unui) rug	rugului	(unor) rugi	rugilor
vocative	rugule		rugilor

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Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ᵲuɡ̊]

Verb

rug

1. past tense of beir