rich

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Having a lot of money or valuable possessions.

   My father is extremely rich.

2. 2
   adj

   Having a large amount of something good or useful.

   The land is rich in minerals.

3. 3
   adj

   Containing a lot of fat, sugar, or eggs, and so heavy to eat.

   The chocolate cake was very rich.

4. 4
   adj

   Deep, full, and strong in flavour, colour, or sound.

   He has a rich tenor voice.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Rich is an Old English word that originally meant both “powerful” and “wealthy.” The association with abundance later produced a sense of something given without restraint, and by the 17th century it could mean “outrageous” or “beyond acceptable limits,” as in a bit rich. Riches is separately derived from French richesse “wealth.”

From Middle English riche (“strong, powerful, rich”), from Old English rīċe (“powerful, mighty, great, high-ranking, rich, wealthy, strong, potent”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīkī (“powerful, rich”), from Proto-Germanic *rīkijaz (“kingly, powerful, rich”), from Proto-Germanic *rīks (“king, ruler”), an early borrowing from Proto-Celtic *rīxs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs. Reinforced by Old French riche, from the same West Germanic source.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary