Ruddock

//ˈɹʌdək// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The European robin. archaic

    "The Ouzell shrills; the Ruddock warbles soft."

  2. 2
    A piece of gold money (probably because the gold of coins was often reddened by copper alloy). obsolete

    "Great pieces of gold […] red ruddocks."

  3. 3
    A variety of red apple, used for cidermaking. obsolete
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A ghost town in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States, destroyed by a hurricane.

Example

More examples

"The Ouzell shrills; the Ruddock warbles soft."

Etymology

From Middle English ruddocke, ruddok, roddok, from Old English rudduc, ruduc (“robin, ruddock”, literally “little red one, red-ling”), equivalent to rud (“redness”) + -ock (diminutive suffix). The Welsh rhuddog, and Cornish rudhek (“the redbreast”) are probably from the English, although a derivation from a British Celtic *roudākos (< *roudos "red") for all three cannot be ruled out. More at rud.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.