Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RUD'DI-NESS, n. [from ruddy.]

The state of being ruddy; redness, or rather a lively flesh color; that degree of redness which characterizes high health; applied chiefly to the complexion or color of the human skin; as, the ruddiness of the cheeks or lips.

RUD'DLE, n. [W. rhuzell; from the root of red, ruddy.]

The name of a species of red earth, colored by sesquoxyd of iron. Woodward.

RUD'DLE-MAN, n.

One who digs ruddle.

RUD'DOC, n. [Sax. rudduc; from the root of red, ruddy.]

A bird; otherwise called red-breast. Carew.

RUD'DY, a. [Sax. rude, rudu, reod; D. rood; G. roth; W. rhuz; Gr. ερυθρος; Sans. rudhira, blood. This seems to be a dialectical orthography of red, – which see.]

1. Of a red color; of a lively flesh color, or the color of the human skin in high health. Thus we say, ruddy cheeks, ruddy lips, a ruddy face or skin, a ruddy youth; and in poetic language, ruddy fruit. But the word is chiefly applied to the human skin. Dryden. Otway.
2. Of a bright yellow color; as, ruddy gold. [Unusual.] Dryden.

RUDE, a. [Fr. rude; It. rude and rozzo; Sp. rudo; L. rudis; D. ruw; G. roh, raw, crude; Arm. rust. The sense is probably rough, broken, and this word may be allied to raw and crude. See Class Rd, No. 35, 38.]

1. Rough; uneven; rugged; unformed by art; as, rude workmanship, that is, roughly finished; rude and unpolished stones. Stillingfleet.
2. Rough; of coarse manners; unpolished; uncivil; clownish; rustic; as, a rude countryman; rude behavior; rude treatment; a rude attack. Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch. Shak.
3. Violent; tumultuous; boisterous; turbulent; as, rude winds; the rude agitation of the sea. Boyle.
4. Violent; fierce; impetuous; as, the rude shock of armies.
5. Harsh; inclement; as, the rude winter. Waller.
6. Ignorant; untaught; savage; barbarous; as, the rude natives of America or of New Holland; the rude ancestors of the Greeks.
7. Raw; untaught; ignorant; not skilled or practiced; as, rude in speech; rude in arms. Wotton.
8. Artless; inelegant; not polished; as, a rude translation of Virgil. Dryden.

RUDE'LY, adv.

1. With roughness; as, a mountain rudely formed.
2. Violently; fiercely; tumultuously. The door was rudely assaulted.
3. In a rude or uncivil manner; as, to be rudely accosted.
4. Without exactness or nicety; coarsely; as, work rudely executed. I that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty / To strut before a wanton ambling nymph. Shak.
5. Unskillfully. My muse, though rudely, has resign'd / Some faint resemblance of his godlike mind. Dryden.
6. Without elegance.

RUDE'NESS, n.

1. A rough broken state; unevenness; wildness; as, the rudeness of a mountain, country or landscape.
2. Coarseness of manners; incivility; rusticity; vulgarity. And kings the rudeness of their joy must bear. Dryden.
3. Ignorance; unskillfulness. What he did amiss was rather through rudeness and want of judgment. Hayward.
4. Artlessness; coarseness; inelegance; as, the rudeness of a painting or piece of sculpture.
5. Violence; impetuosity; as, the rudeness of an attack or shock.
6. Violence; storminess; as, the rudeness of winds or of the season.

RU'DEN-TURE, n. [Fr. from L. rudens, a rope.]

In architecture, the figure of a rope or staff, plain or carved, with which the flutings of columns are sometimes filled. Bailey.

RU'DE-RA-RY, a. [Low L. ruderarius; from the root of rudis, and indicating the primary sense of rude, to be broken.]

Belonging to rubbish. [Not used.] Dict.

RU-DE-RA'TION, n. [L. ruderatio, from rudero, to pave with broken stones.]

The act of paving with pebbles or little stones. [Not used.] Bailey.

RUDES'BY, n.

An uncivil turbulent fellow. [Not used.] Shak.

RU'DI-MENT, n. [Fr. from L. rudimentum. If connected with erudio, it denotes what is taught, and erudio may be connected with the Goth. rodyan, to speak, Sax. rædan, to read. But the real origin is not obvious. It may have formed from some word in Rd, signifying to shoot or spring.]

1. A first principle or element; that which is to be first learnt, as the rudiments of learning or science. Articulate sounds are the rudiments of language; letters or characters are the rudiments of written language; the primary rules of any art or science are called its rudiments. Hence instruction in the rudiments of any art or science, constitutes the beginning of education in that art or science.
2. The original of anything in its first form. Thus in botany, the germen, ovary, or seed bud, is the rudiment of the fruit yet in embryo; and the seed is the rudiment of a new plant. Martyn. Rudiment, in natural history, is also an imperfect organ; one which is never fully formed. Thus the flowers in the genus Pentstemon, have four stamens and a rudiment of a fifth, (a simple filament without an anther.) God beholds the first imperfect rudiments of virtue in the soul. Spectator.

RU'DI-MENT, v.t.

To furnish with first principles or rules; to ground; to settle in first principles. Gayton.

RU-DI-MENT'AL, or RU-DI-MENT'A-RY, a.

Initial; pertaining to rudiments, or consisting in first principles; as, rudimental essays. Spectator.

RUE, n.¹

Sorrow; repentance. [Not in use.] Shak.

RUE, n.² [ru; Sax. rude; D. ruit; G. raute; Dan. rude; Gr. ῥυτη; L. and It. ruta; Sp. ruda; Fr. rue; Arm. ry; Ir. ruith, raith; Corn. ryte. Rue is a contracted word. Qu. from its bitter taste, grating, roughness.]

A plant of the genus Ruta, of several species. The common garden rue is medicinal. Encyc.

RUE, v.i.

To have compassion. [Not in use.] Chaucer.

RUE, v.t. [ru; Sax. reowian, hreowian; W. rhuaw, rhuadu; D. rouwen, G. reuen, to repent; Dan. and Sw. ruelse, contrition. This is the L. rudo, to roar, to bray. Class Rd.]

To lament; to regret; to grieve for; as, to rue the commission of a crime; to rue the day. Thy will / Chose freely what it now so justly rues. Milton.

RU'ED, pp.

Lamented; grieved for; regretted.

RUE-FUL, a. [ru'full. rue and full.]

1. Woful; mournful; sorrowful; to be lamented. Spur them to rueful work. Shak.
2. Expressing sorrow. He sigh'd and cast a rueful eye. – Dryden.

RUE-FUL-LY, adv.

Mournfully; sorrowfully. – More.

RUE-FUL-NESS, n.

Sorrowfulness; mournfulness.

RUE-ING, n.

Lamentation. Smith.

RU-ELLE', n. [ruel'; Fr. a narrow street, from rue, a street.]

A circle; a private circle or assembly at a private house. [Not in use.] Dryden.