run
To move swiftly on foot; to flow or operate.
Etymology
Modern English run descends from Old English rinnan or iernan, from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną, ultimately from PIE *h₁er- meaning "to move, to set in motion." The root is remarkably productive across Indo-European languages. In Latin it yielded orīrī "to rise, arise," which gave English orient, origin, and abort. Greek ornȳnai "to stir, to rouse" shares the same source. The Old Norse cognate rinna meant "to run, to flow," reflecting the dual sense of rapid motion and liquid movement that persists in English today — a river runs, a nose runs, colours run. The Germanic development involved a nasal infix that became characteristic of the verb class. Related English words from the same PIE root include the archaic earn in the sense of "to run" (as in eagle) and rise through extended forms.
The Journey: *h₁er- → run
*h₁er-
*rinnaną
rinnan / iernan
runnen
run
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *h₁er-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | orīrī | to rise, arise |
| Greek | ornȳnai | to stir, rouse |
| Sanskrit | ṛṇóti | moves, arises |
| Old Norse | rinna | to run, flow |
| Gothic | rinnan | to run |
Did You Know?
Run is one of the most polysemous words in English, with over 600 distinct senses recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary — more than almost any other verb. A single PIE root meaning "to move" spawned a word that now covers everything from jogging to operating a business to a run of bad luck.