rotten (English)

Where does "rotten" come from?

The English adjective 'rotten' entered the language through Middle English 'roten'[1], which was borrowed from Old Norse 'rotinn', meaning 'decayed' or 'rotten'[1][2]. In Old Norse, 'rotinn' served as the past participle of an unrecorded verb associated with 'rotna' ('to rot') and cognate with Old English 'rotian' ('to rot')[1][3]. All of these Germanic terms trace back to the Proto-Germanic reconstructed verb '*rutāną' ('to rot')[1][3], which ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root '*Hrewd-', meaning 'to tear' or 'rend'[4].

Open questions

The Old Norse source form 'rotinn' is analyzed as the past participle of an unrecorded base verb rather than a fully attested verbal paradigm. [1] [3]
The ancestral Germanic form '*rutāną' and the earlier Indo-European root '*Hrewd-' are reconstructed proto-forms that are not directly attested in written records. [1] [3] [4]

Full etymology tree

rotten (English), 'Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents.'
- inherited roten (Middle English), 'Rotten or spoiled (usually of animal or plant matter):'
  - borrowed rotinn (Old Norse), 'rotten, decayed'
    - derived *rutāną (Proto-Germanic), 'to rot'
      - inherited *Hrewd- (Proto-Indo-European)

Ancestors

roten (Middle English)
rotinn (Old Norse)
*rutāną (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

rotian (Old English)

Descendants and derived words

Rosie Rottencrotch (English)
rotten apple (English)
rotten borough (English)
rotten egg (English)
rotten egg gas (English)
rottenly (English)
rottenness (English)
rotten stone (English)
rotten to the core (English)
rotten wood (English)
something is rotten in the state of Denmark (English)
spoiled rotten (English)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris