Etymology
1. 1598, "disorderly retreat," from M.Fr.
route "disorderly flight of troops," lit. "a breaking off, rupture," from V.L.
rupta "a dispersed group," lit. "a broken group," from L.
rupta, fem. pp. of
rumpere "to break" (see rupture). The verb is from 1600.
2. The noun is derived from Middle English rout, route (“group of people associated with one another, company; entourage, retinue; army; group of soldiers; group of pirates; large number of people, crowd; throng; group of disreputable people, mob; riot; group of animals; group of objects; proper condition or manner”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman route, rute, Middle French rote, route, Old French rote, route, rute (“group of people, company; group of armed people; group of criminals; group of cattle”) (modern French route (obsolete)), from Latin rupta (compare Late Latin ruta, rutta (“group of marauders; riot; unlawful assembly”)), the feminine of ruptus (“broken; burst, ruptured”), the perfect passive participle of rumpō (“to break, burst, rupture, tear; to force open; (figurative) to annul; to destroy; to interrupt”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to break; to tear (up)”). The English word is a doublet of route.
3. The verb is derived from Middle English routen (“to assemble, congregate; of animals: to herd together; to regroup, make a stand against; to be riotous, to riot”) [and other forms], from rout, route (noun); see above.
Verbs referencing "rout"
Norwegian, nynorsk
rauta.