As a noun it dates from the Old English period and can mean ‘bundle’ or ‘sheaf’. In Yorkshire it is much used with reference to bundles of peas from the seventeenth century.
One who refuses; that is in England a person who refused to accept the religious changes of the Reformation, to acknowledge the supremacy of the Crown, to conform to the Book of Common Prayer and to attend the services of the Church of England (PDE165).
In animal husbandry it was a concern to keep herds and flocks at the desired size, so older animals that were fattened and slaughtered had to be replaced by a new generation.
In Yorkshire, each of the three Ridings was responsible for the maintenance of certain bridges and these were known as Riding Bridges. The term is likely to have come into use in 1530-1 when the Statute of Bridges placed that responsibility on county authorities (SAL4/199).
Formerly, a ‘bridge’ could be a causeway across marshy ground rather than a structure across a stream or river. This best explains the meaning of the popular minor name Rise Bridge, since ‘rise’ was brushwood, the material used to make the causeway.
The early spelling of ‘rush’, the grass-like plant found in marshy locations. These were traditionally strewn on the floors of dwellings and more important buildings as late as the seventeenth century.
The noun ‘road’ originally referred to the act of riding but then it became associated with the horse-riders’ route or way and eventually it took the place of ‘highway’.