Rugby
/ˈrʌɡ.bi/noun
A form of football played with an oval ball, or the town in Warwickshire, England, associated with its naming.
Did you know?The sport took its name from Rugby School, where the popular legend says the game was “invented,” but the word itself is simply the old English place-name, not an occult or coded term.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
Hrōca's by
“A settlement associated with a person named Hrōca or a similar early local name, plus Old English byrig/by meaning a settlement or village”
1086
Latin
Rocheberie
“Recorded in the Domesday Book as a place-name form of Rugby”
13th–16th Century
Middle English
Ruggeby / Rugby
“Developing medieval spellings of the Warwickshire town name”
19th Century
English
Rugby
“The school and then the football code associated with Rugby School”
Modern English
English
rugby
“A football code played with an oval ball and physical tackling”