rigour
nounAU, UK /ˈɹɪɡə(ɹ)/
Etymology From Middle English rigour, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French rigor, from Latin rigor (“stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness”), from rigere (“to be rigid”). Compare French rigueur.
7 senses
1
Severity or strictness.
- And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 1:13–14:
2
Harshness, as of climate.
3
Medicine, Sciences A feeling of cold with shivering accompanied by a rise in body temperature.
4
Character of being unyielding or inflexible.
5
Shrewd questioning.
6
Higher level of difficulty.
7
UK, Misspelling Misspelling of rigor (“rigor mortis”).
- Derived terms
- rigorous, rigourisation, rigourise, rigourism, rigourist, rigourization, rigourize, rigourness