Roe
/roʊ/noun
Roe means the eggs of a fish or other aquatic animal, and can also refer to a female roe deer.
Did you know?The fish-egg sense comes from a Norse word meaning fish eggs, while the deer sense descends from an ancient Germanic name for the roe deer; their identical modern spelling is accidental.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*raihô
“A roe deer; the reconstructed ancestor of the deer sense.”
Old English
Old English
rāha
“A roe deer, especially the animal now called a roe deer.”
Old Norse
Old Norse
hrogn
“Fish eggs or spawn; the source of the aquatic sense.”
Middle English
English
ro / roe
“Both a roe deer and fish eggs, with spellings beginning to converge.”
16th Century
English
roe
“Established spelling for fish eggs and for the female roe deer.”
Modern English
English
roe
“Fish eggs used as food, or a female roe deer.”