rust
/ɹʌst/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun The deteriorated state of iron or steel as a result of moisture and oxidation; it consists mostly of iron(III) oxide (ferric oxide) and iron(II) oxide (ferrous oxide). “The rust on my bicycle chain made cycling to work very dangerous.”
- noun A similar substance based on another metal. “copper rust”
- noun A reddish-brown color.
- noun A disease of plants caused by a reddish-brown fungus (Pucciniales).
- noun (philately) Damage caused to stamps and album pages by a fungal infection.
- verb (intransitive) To oxidize, especially of iron or steel. “The patio furniture had rusted in the wind-driven spray.”
- verb (transitive) To cause to oxidize. “The wind-driven spray had thoroughly rusted the patio furniture.”
- verb (intransitive) To be affected with the parasitic fungus called rust.
- verb (ambitransitive, figuratively) To (cause to) degenerate in idleness; to make or become dull or impaired by inaction. “My knowledge of Spanish has rusted over the years.”
- verb (intransitive) Of a black cat or its fur, to turn rust-coloured following long periods of exposure to sunlight. “It's very common for black cats to rust during the summer.”
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A township in Montmorency County, Michigan, United States.
- proper noun A municipality in Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
- proper noun A small city in Burgenland, Austria.
- proper noun (computer languages) A multiparadigm programming language focused on safety, especially safe concurrency.
Synonyms
oxidise oxidize corrode rusting rust fungus eat rusty rust-brown
Etymology
From Middle English rust, rost, roust, from Old English rust, rūst (“rust”), from Proto-West Germanic *rust, from Proto-Germanic *rustaz (“rust”), from Proto-Indo-European *rudʰso- (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”).
Cognate with Scots roust (“rust”), Saterland Frisian rust (“rust”), West Frisian roast (“rust”), Dutch roest (“rust”), German Rost (“rust”), Danish rust (“rust”), Swedish rost (“rust”), Norwegian rust, ryst (“rust”), Finnish ruoste, Estonian rooste. Related to red.
From Middle English rusten, from the noun (see above).
* As an Alemannic German surname, from Rust
* As a German surname, from Middle Low German ruste, from Old Saxon rasta, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō (“rest, pause”).
* As an English and Scots surname, from Old English rust (“red, ruddy”), from Proto-Germanic *rustaz.
Graydon Hoare, who initiated the language, has stated that it was possibly named after rust fungi and may be related to robust.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The reddish yellow coating formed on iron when exposed to moist air, consisting of ferric oxide or hydroxide; hence, by extension, any metallic film of corrosion.
- noun A minute mold or fungus forming reddish or rusty spots on the leaves and stems of cereal and other grasses (Trichobasis Rubigo-vera), now usually believed to be a form or condition of the corn mildew (Puccinia graminis). As rust, it has solitary reddish spores; as corn mildew, the spores are double and blackish.
- verb To contract rust; to be become oxidized.
- verb To be affected with the parasitic fungus called rust; also, to acquire a rusty appearance. as plants.
Etymology [AS. rust; akin to D. roest, G. & Sw. rost, Icel. ryth; -- named from its color, and akin to E. red. *113. See Red.]
Etymology [AS. rustian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rust”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details