rout

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈrau̇t

: a state of wild confusion or disorderly retreat

: a disastrous defeat : debacle

: a precipitate flight

rout

2 of 5

verb (1)

ˈrau̇t

routed; routing; routs

transitive verb

: to defeat decisively or disastrously

the discomfiture of seeing their party routed at the polls

A. N. Holcombe

: to put to precipitate flight

: to disorganize completely : demoralize

: to drive out : dispel

rout

3 of 5

noun (2)

ˈrau̇t

: a crowd of people

specifically : rabble sense 2b

: disturbance

archaic : fuss

: a fashionable gathering

rout

4 of 5

verb (2)

ˈrau̇t

routed; routing; routs

intransitive verb

: to poke around with the snout : root

pigs routing in the earth

: to search haphazardly

transitive verb

: to come up with : uncover

scouts … routing out new talent

Carrie Donovan

: to force out as if by digging

—usually used with out

: to cause to emerge especially from bed

: to gouge out or make a furrow in (something, such as wood or metal)

archaic : to dig up with the snout

rout

5 of 5

verb (3)

ˈrōt

ˈrüt

routed; routing; routs

intransitive verb

dialectal, chiefly British

: to low loudly : bellow

—used of cattle

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from Middle French route "defeat, disorderly retreat," noun derivative from feminine of rout, alternate past participle of rompre "to defeat, put to flight," literally, "to break, smash," going back to Old French, going back to Latin rumpere — more at route entry 1

Verb (1)

derivative of rout entry 1

Noun (2)

Middle English route "group, band of soldiers, crowd," borrowed from Anglo-French route, rute "band, herd, armed force," going back to Vulgar Latin *rupta "detachment," literally, "something broken off," going back to Latin, feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere "to break" — more at route entry 1

Verb (2)

presumed to be variant of wroot, root entry 3 (though alteration of vowel is unexplained)

Verb (3)

Middle English (northern) & early Scots rowten, rowte, borrowed from Old Norse rauta "to roar," going back to Germanic *rautōjan-, probably derivative of a noun *raut- "bellowing, roaring," from an ablaut derivative of *reutan- (whence Old English rēotan "to weep, wail," Old High German riozan "to weep, mourn," Old Swedish riuta "to roar"), going back to Indo-European *Hreu̯d- "produce a loud sound, weep," whence, with varying ablaut grades, Latin rudere, rūdere "to make a loud noise, bellow, bray," Lithuanian raudóti "to sob, weep," Old Church Slavic rydati, Sanskrit rodiṣi "(you) weep"