row

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
  2. noun an angry dispute
  3. noun a long continuous strip (usually running horizontally)

Etymology

From Middle English rewe, rowe, rawe, from Old English rǣw, rāw, probably from Proto-Germanic *raiwō, *raigwō, *rīgǭ (“row, streak, line”), from Proto-Indo-European *reyk- (“to carve, scratch, etch”). Cognate with Scots raw (“row”), dialectal Norwegian rå (“boundary line”), Saterland Frisian Riege (“row”), West Frisian rige (“row”), Dutch rij (“row, line”), German Low German Reeg, Riege, Rieg (“row”), German Reihe (“row”), German Riege (“sports team”).

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