rugby

A2 Topic:Sports & Fitness

US /ˈrʌgbi/ UK /ˈɹʌɡbi/ See IPA manual

Freq #12368

Meanings

1

noun
A team sport played with an oval ball that players can carry, kick, and pass backwards.

He plays rugby for his school every Saturday.
2

name
A town in Warwickshire, England, where the sport is said to have begun.

The game takes its name from the town of Rugby.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a team sport played with an... rugby footballrugger

Word family

Derived forms nonrugbyrugbyesquerugbyistrugbylikerugger

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

rugby football
a form of football played with an oval ball under rugby rules

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Rugby is named after Rugby School in Warwickshire, England, where the game was first played. Tradition associates its origin with William Webb Ellis taking the ball in his arms and running during a school football match in 1823.

Etymology

From earlier Rokeby (rook + -by), from Middle English Rokebi, an alteration (using the Middle English bi (“village, town”), from Old Norse býr (“town, settlement”)) of Old English Rocheberie, possibly from earlier Old English *Hrōceburh (literally “rook-fort, Rookbury”).

Rokebi Middle English bi Middle English býr Old Norse Rocheberie Old English *Hrōceburh Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Sports & Fitness

External links

# rugby

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, name
**IPA (US):** /ˈrʌgbi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹʌɡbi/
**Frequency rank:** 12368

## Meanings
1. A team sport played with an oval ball that players can carry, kick, and pass backwards.
2. A town in Warwickshire, England, where the sport is said to have begun.

## Examples
- He plays rugby for his school every Saturday.
- The game takes its name from the town of Rugby.

## Derived Forms
- nonrugby
- rugbyesque
- rugbyist
- rugbylike
- rugger

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: Rokebi
- Root: bi
- Root: býr
- Root: Rocheberie
- Root: *Hrōceburh

## Etymology
From earlier Rokeby (rook + -by), from Middle English Rokebi, an alteration (using the Middle English bi (“village, town”), from Old Norse býr (“town, settlement”)) of Old English Rocheberie, possibly from earlier Old English *Hrōceburh (literally “rook-fort, Rookbury”).

## AI Etymology
Rugby comes from earlier Rokeby (rook + -by), from Middle English Rokebi, an alteration (using the Middle English bi (“village, town”), from Old Norse býr (“town, settlement”)) of Old English Rocheberie, possibly from earlier Old English *Hrōceburh (literally “rook-fort, Rookbury”). Modern senses include a team sport played with an oval ball that players can carry, kick, and pass backwards. and a town in Warwickshire, England, where the sport is said to have begun.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonrugby, rugbyesque, rugbyist, rugbylike, and rugger.

## Topics
- Sports & Fitness

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