rod

Etymology

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɒd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹɑd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒd

Noun

rod (plural rods)

1. A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.

   The circus strong man proved his strength by bending an iron rod, and then straightening it.

2. A longitudinal pole used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
3. (fishing) A long slender usually tapering pole used for angling; fishing rod.

   When I hooked a snake and not a fish, I got so scared I dropped my rod in the water.

4. A stick, pole, or bundle of switches or twigs (such as a birch), used for personal defense or to administer corporal punishment by whipping.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 8, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     So was I brought up: they tell mee, that in all my youth, I never felt rod [translating verges] but twice, and that very lightly.

5. An implement resembling and/or supplanting a rod (particularly a cane) that is used for corporal punishment, and metonymically called the rod, regardless of its actual shape and composition.

   The judge imposed on the thief a sentence of fifteen strokes with the rod.

6. A stick used to measure distance, by using its established length or task-specific temporary marks along its length, or by dint of specific graduated marks.

   I notched a rod and used it to measure the length of rope to cut.

8. (archaic) A unit of length equal to 1 pole, a perch, ¹⁄₄ chain, 5+¹⁄₂ yards, 16+¹⁄₂ feet, or exactly 5.0292 meters (these being all equivalent).
   • 1842, Edgar Allan Poe, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt:

     ‘And this thicket, so full of a natural art, was in the immediate vicinity, within a few rods, of the dwelling of Madame Deluc, whose boys were in the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of the bark of the sassafras.’

   • 1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod‎:

     In one of the villages I saw the next summer a cow tethered by a rope six rods long […].

   • 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:

     A few rods farther led him past the old black Presbyterian church, with its square tower, embowered in a stately grove; past the Catholic church, with its many crosses, and a painted wooden figure of St. James in a recess beneath the gable; and past the old Jefferson House, once the leading hotel of the town, in front of which political meetings had been held, and political speeches made, and political hard cider drunk, in the days of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too."

   • 1924, Edward A. Ross, “Pocketed Americans”, in World Drift, New York, London: The Century Co., published 1928, page 68:

     the valley is forty to sixty rods wide

9. An implement held vertically and viewed through an optical surveying instrument such as a transit, used to measure distance in land surveying and construction layout; an engineer's rod, surveyor's rod, surveying rod, leveling rod, ranging rod. The modern (US) engineer's or surveyor's rod commonly is eight or ten feet long and often designed to extend higher. In former times a surveyor's rod often was a single wooden pole or composed of multiple sectioned and socketed pieces, and besides serving as a sighting target was used to measure distance on the ground horizontally, hence for convenience was of one rod or pole in length, that is, 5+¹⁄₂ yards.
10. (archaic) A unit of area equal to a square rod, 30+¹⁄₄ square yards or ¹⁄₁₆₀ acre.

    The house had a small yard of about six rods in size.

11. A straight bar that unites moving parts of a machine, for holding parts together as a connecting rod or for transferring power as a driveshaft.

    The engine threw a rod, and then went to pieces before our eyes, springs and coils shooting in all directions.

12. (anatomy) A rod cell: a rod-shaped cell in the eye that is sensitive to light.

    The rods are more sensitive than the cones, but do not discern color.

13. (biology) Any of a number of long, slender microorganisms.

    He applied a gram positive stain, looking for rods indicative of Listeria.

14. (chemistry) A stirring rod: a glass rod, typically about 6 inches to 1 foot long and ¹⁄₈ to ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter that can be used to stir liquids in flasks or beakers.
15. (slang) A pistol; a gun.
    • 1916 August, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 249, column 1:

      One of them strode to his side and ran experienced fingers through his clothes. "No rod," he reported, "where's the jewelry?"

16. (slang, vulgar) The penis.
    • 2004, Bruce Jackson, Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me:

      [I'm gonna] […] throw some vaseline right in the crack a your ass, then I'm gonna shove my rod in your open hole and try to pacify your ornery soul.

17. (slang) A hot rod, an automobile or other passenger motor vehicle modified to run faster and often with exterior cosmetic alterations, especially one based originally on a pre-1940s model or (currently) denoting any older vehicle thus modified.
18. (ufology) A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities.

    Synonym: skyfish

    • 2000, Jack Barranger, Paul Tice, Mysteries Explored: The Search for Human Origins, Ufos, and Religious Beginnings, Book Three, p.37:

      These cylindrical rods fly through the air at incredible speeds and can only be picked up by high-speed cameras.

    • 2009, Barry Conrad, An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting, Dorrance Publishing, pages 129–130:

      During one such broadcast in 1997, the esteemed radio host bellowed, “I got a fax earlier today from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Arizona and they said what you think are rods are actually insects!”

    • 2010, Deena West Budd, The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology: Werewolves, Dragons, Skyfish, Lizard Men, and Other Fascinating Creatures Real and Mysterious, Weiser Books, page 15:

      He tells of a home video showing a rod flying into the open mouth of a girl singing at a wedding.

19. (mathematics) A Cuisenaire rod.
20. (rail transport) A coupling rod or connecting rod, which links the driving wheels of a steam locomotive, and some diesel shunters and early electric locomotives.
    • 1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743:

      In the early days troubles were experienced with oscillation from the rod drive and with the transformers, but were overcome later, and these machines performed useful service until superseded by more modern locomotives less costly in maintenance.

Verb

rod (third-person singular simple present rods, present participle rodding, simple past and past participle rodded)

1. (construction) To reinforce concrete with metal rods.
2. (transitive) To furnish with rods, especially lightning rods.
3. (slang, vulgar, transitive) To penetrate sexually.
   • 1968, David Lynn, Bull nuts:

     On impulse he moved around to the opposite side of the couple, in the direction which Grace's broad buttocks were pointed, for a full view of the big boned woman's back side. Now Grace wouldn't mind one iota if he rodded her from the rear.

4. (slang) To hot rod.
   • 2007, Dana Stabenow, A Deeper Sleep, →ISBN, page 45:

     There were three clear sets, more than what you might expect at Heartbreak Point, given all the juvies rodding in and out of there with their girlfriends.

Anagrams

• dor, ODR, d'or, Ord, DOR, D. Or., ord, Dor., DRO, Dor, ORD, dro, RDO

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *rrod, from Proto-Celtic *rotos, from Proto-Indo-European *Hróth₂os.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈroːt/

Noun

rod f (plural rodoù)

1. wheel

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech rod, from Proto-Slavic *rȏdъ. By surface analysis, deverbal from rodit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrot]

Noun

rod m inan

1. family, stock, lineage
2. (botany) genus
3. (grammar) gender
4. (grammar) voice

Further reading

• “rod”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “rod”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “rod”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁoˀð], [ˈʁoðˀ]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds. English root is borrowed from Old Norse.

Etymology 2

From the verb rode.

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• ruad (Itzgründisch)

Adjective

rod

1. red

Alternative forms

• (Low Prussian) root (rot)

Etymology

From Old Saxon rōd, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós < *h₁rewdʰ-. Compare Dutch rood, German rot, West Frisian read, English red, Danish rød.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɾɔu̯t/

Adjective

rod

1. (in several dialects) red

Alternative forms

• root (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Middle High German rōt (“red, red-haired”), from Old High German rōt (“red, scarlet, purple-red, brown-red, yellow-red”), from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from *h₁rewdʰ-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːt/

Adjective

rod (comparative roder, superlative rodest)

1. red

   Die Blumme sin rod.

   The flowers are red.

   Die Tomatte sin aarich rod.

   The tomatoes are very red.

   Sie hod en rode Naas.

   She has a red nose.