rod

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A long, thin, straight bar or stick of wood or metal.

   He bent the iron rod with his bare hands.

2. 2
   noun

   A long, slender pole used for fishing.

   She cast her rod and waited for a fish to bite.

3. 3
   noun

   A bar that connects or transfers movement between parts of a machine.

   The engine broke when a connecting rod snapped.

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

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