rocky
/ˈrɒki/
adjective
Origin
Old English
rōc / rōc? — rock; stone
Overview
Meaning Now
- covered with rocks or full of rocks
- having the nature, appearance, or hardness of rock; stony
- figuratively: uncertain, unstable, or troubled
Literal older meaning
full of rock; like rock
Language path
English → Middle English → Old English
Earliest form
rokki
Earliest period
Middle English
Journey
Rocky is a regular descriptive adjective built in English from the noun rock plus the productive adjective-forming suffix -y. Its figurative use for something unstable or troubled developed naturally from the physical sense of rough, uneven ground.
Evolution
- Proto-Germanic
*rukkō-
“rock, stone”
Reconstructed ancestral noun for Germanic rock words; exact shape is uncertain in the evidence.
- Old English
rōcc / rocc
“rock, stone”
Inherited Germanic noun in English.
- Middle English
rokki
“rock-like; stony”
Adjectival formation with -y from the noun rock.
- Modern English
rocky
“stony; full of rocks; unstable, difficult”
Extended to figurative senses such as a rocky relationship.
Connections
Word parts
rock
root
rock; stone
-y
suffix
having the qualities of
Related across languages
Almanca
kaya, taş
Hollandaca
rok
kaya, taş
Related words
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Related to rocky
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.