Where Did the Word Rummaging Come from?

The Middle Dutch ruim, Germanic rum, and Old English rum all referred to a compartment on a ship, probably stemming from the Middle French verb arrumer, "to stow goods in the hold of a ship." The idea of rummaging as searching was first recorded in the 1620s.

What does rummaging mean?

1 : to make a thorough search or investigation. 2 : to engage in an undirected or haphazard search. transitive verb. 1 : to make a thorough search through : ransack rummaged the attic.

What is the origin of the word there?

Old English þær "in or at that place, so far as, provided that, in that respect," from Proto-Germanic *thær (source also of Old Saxon thar, Old Frisian ther, Middle Low German dar, Middle Dutch daer, Dutch daar, Old High German dar, German da, Gothic þar, Old Norse þar), from PIE *tar- "there" (source also of Sanskrit ...