Etymology
The word russ is inherited from the Danish word rus, which as an abbreviation of Latin rusticus ("rural"), in former times used to ridicule new students at a university. A more elaborate explanation claims the word comes from the Latin phrase cornua depositurus, which means "bound to put aside one's horns". This phrase is the name of an old Danish university acceptance ceremony, the name of which was eventually simplified to just the last syllable.
In Norway, an extra s has been added in order to make the word compliant with modern Norwegian spelling rules, which dictate that a short vowel should be indicated by a following double consonant. It is also to conveniently separate it from "rus", which in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish also means "intoxication".
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)