Old English rotian "to decay, putrefy," from Proto-Germanic *rutjan (cf. Old Saxon roton, Old Norse rotna, Old Frisian rotia, Middle Dutch roten, Dutch rotten, Old High German rozzen "to rot," German rößen "to steep flax"), from stem *rut-. Related: Rotted; rotting.
early 14c., from rot (v.) or of Scandinavian origin (cf. Icelandic rot, Swedish röta, Danish røde "decay, putrefaction"), from the root of the verb. Slang noun sense of "rubbish, trash" is from 1848.
any of several plant diseases, caused by any of hundreds of species of soil-borne bacteria and fungi. They are characterized by plant decomposition and putrefaction. The decay may be hard, dry, spongy, watery, mushy, or slimy and may affect any plant part