rugby

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʌɡbi/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rug‧by

Etymology 1

From the name of Rugby School in Rugby, in Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, where the modern game was developed in the 19th century. The place name Rugby is attested in the Domesday Book as Old English Rocheberie (probably equivalent to rook (“Corvus frugilegus, a bird of the crow family”) +‎ -by (suffix indicating a village or town)), possibly from *Hrōcebyriġ, dative singular of *Hrōceburh, from hrōc (“rook”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“to crow”)) + burh, burg (“castle, fort, stronghold; city; town”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“hill, mountain; high, lofty; to rise”)).

Noun

rugby (countable and uncountable, plural rugbies)

1. (usually uncountable, sports)
   1. A form of football in which players can hold or kick an ovoid ball; rugby football. The ball cannot be handled forwards and points are scored by touching the ball to the ground in the area past the opponent's territory or by kicking the ball between goalposts and over a crossbar.

      Synonym: rugger

      The scrum is a distinctive element of rugby.

      The two rugbies split following a debate about amateurism.

   2. (specifically) The form of the game known as rugby union (see the usage note).
2. (countable) Ellipsis of rugby shirt (“a shirt of the kind worn by rugby players, usually short-sleeved and with a buttoned opening at the neck like a polo shirt, but with a stiffer collar”).
   • 2003, B. Lawson Thornton, Misery Loves Company: The Diary of Kerri Mitchell, East River Press, →ISBN:

     I don't know why, but for some reason people who work undercover for department store security always wear rugbies and khakis.

   • 2007, Adam Mansbach, Angry Black White Boy: , Crown, →ISBN, page 69:

     Jansports and cargo pants were everywhere, set off with overstated polos, rugbies, and sweatshirts blaring the logos of hip hop designers.

   • 2015, Tony Jackson, From the Streets to the Sheets, Page Publishing, →ISBN:

     I bought three jogging suits, a pair of Polo sneakers, and two rugbies.

Usage notes

The word rugby when used without any modifying word is commonly used to refer specifically to the game of rugby union – for example, the Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament. Referring to rugby league simply as rugby is less common, except in countries where that is the predominant version of rugby football played.

A major difference between rugby and football (association football or soccer) is that in the latter sport players apart from the goalkeeper are not permitted to handle the ball.

Alternative forms

• Rugby (archaic)

Hyponyms

• American rules rugby, Harvard rules football (obsolete) (evolved into American football)
• Canadian rules rugby (obsolete) (evolved into Canadian football)
• rugby league, league
• rugby union, RU, union
• rugby sevens, rugby 7s
• rugby tens, rugby 10s, ten-a-side rugby, 10-a-side rugby, ten-a-side, 10-a-side
• rugby fifteens, rugby 15s

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

rugby (third-person singular simple present rugbies, present participle rugbying, simple past and past participle rugbied)

1. (intransitive) To play rugby.

Translations

See also

• American football
• association football
• Canadian football
• football
• rugby football
• Category:en:Rugby

Etymology 2

Genericized trademark from Rugby, a brand of rubber cement by Bostik.

Noun

rugby (plural rugbys)

1. (Philippines) Rubber cement, contact cement.

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• rugby football on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• rugby league on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• rugby union on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• rugby (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Afrikaans

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English rugby.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

rugby (uncountable)

1. (sports) rugby

Cebuano

Etymology 1

From Rugby, (a brand of rubber cement by Bostik).

Noun

rugby

1. rubber cement, contact cement

Derived terms

• rugby boy

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English rugby.

Noun

rugby

1. the sport of rugby

Czech

Alternative forms

• ragby

Etymology

Borrowed from English rugby (sport).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio (Czech Republic)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rug‧by

Noun

rugby n (indeclinable)

1. rugby
   • 2006, Luboš Jeřábek, transl., Fotbal – velký lexikon‎, Praha: Grada Publishing, translation of Fussball-Lexikon by Bernd Rohr and Günter Simon, →ISBN, page 10:

     Ve škole v Rugby zakládá W. W. Ellis hru rugby (zvanou také rugbyfotbal, na rozdíl od pozdějšího asociačního fotbalu), při které je dovoleno hrát i rukama.

     W. W. Ellis invents a game called rugby (or rugby football, in contrast to later founded association football), in which it is allowed to play with hands, at a school in Rugby.

Derived terms

Further reading

• rugby in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• rugby in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

rugby

Wikipedia ^nl

Etymology

Borrowed from English rugby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrʏx.bi/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rug‧by

Noun

rugby n (uncountable)

1. rugby (sport)

Derived terms

• rugbybal
• rugbyspeler

Finnish

Etymology

From English rugby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɑɡbi/,
• IPA^(key): /ˈruɡby/,
• Syllabification^(key): rug‧by

Noun

rugby

1. (sports) rugby

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “rugby”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

rugby

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

English rugby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁyɡ.bi/, /ʁyd.bi/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

rugby m (uncountable)

1. rugby (sport)

Derived terms

• rugby à sept
• rugby à quinze
• rugby à treize
• rugbyman
• rugbywoman

Descendants

• → Russian: ре́гби (régbi) (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “rugby”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

rugby

Wikipedia ^it

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English rugby. For the /ɛ/ compare club.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛɡ.bi/, /ˈraɡ.bi/
• Rhymes: -ɛɡbi, -aɡbi

Noun

rugby m (invariable)

1. rugby (form of football)

References

Further reading

• rugby in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

rugby

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English rugby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraɡ.bɨ/, /ˈruɡ.bɨ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɡbɨ
• Syllabification: rug‧by

Noun

rugby n (indeclinable)

1. (sports) rugby (sport where players can hold or kick an ovoid ball)

Derived terms

Further reading

• rugby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• rugby in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• râguebi, rúgbi

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English rugby.

Pronunciation

Noun

rugby m (uncountable)

1. (proscribed) rugby

   Synonyms: (Portugal) râguebi, (Brazil) rúgbi

Further reading

• “rugby” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Alternative forms

• rugbi (rare)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English rugby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraɡbi/
  • Rhymes: -aɡbi
• IPA^(key): /ˈruɡbi/
  • Rhymes: -uɡbi
• Syllabification: rug‧by

Noun

rugby m (plural rugbys)

1. rugby

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “rugby”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014