ruel-bone (English)

Where does "ruel-bone" come from?

The English noun 'ruel-bone', referring to walrus ivory, is a learned borrowing from Middle English 'rewell bon'[1]. This term traces back to Old French 'roal', which ultimately originates from the Old Norse 'hrosshvalr', a compound combining 'hross' meaning 'horse' and 'hvalr' meaning 'whale'[1][2]. The components of this Norse compound have deeper roots, with 'hross' possibly stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root '*ḱers-' meaning 'to run'[3] and 'hvalr' linked to the Proto-Indo-European term '*(s)kʷálos' for a 'sheatfish'[4][5].

Open questions

The derivation of the Proto-Germanic '*hrussą' remains uncertain, with scholars divided between a Proto-Indo-European origin related to running or a borrowing from an Iranian language. [6]
The connection of the Proto-Indo-European '*(s)kʷálos' to other terms like Proto-Uralic '*kala' or the root '*kʷel-' is sometimes proposed but not definitive. [7]
The etymological origin of the Proto-Indo-European '*wérsēn' is disputed and potentially unconnected to any verbal root. [11]

Full etymology tree

ruel-bone (English), 'A piece of ivory, generally from a marine mammal.'
- inherited rewell bon (Middle English)
  - inherited roal (Old French)
    - inherited hrosshvalr (Old Norse), 'walrus'
      - compound hross (Old Norse), 'horse'
        inherited *hrussą (Proto-Germanic), 'horse'
        inherited *ĵȉsós (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *ĵers- (Proto-Indo-European)
      - compound hvalr (Old Norse), 'whale'
        inherited *hwalaz (Proto-Germanic), 'whale'
        inherited *(s)kᴡálos (Proto-Indo-European)

Ancestors

hrosshvalr (Old Norse)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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