'ride' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'rīdan', where the root meant 'to ride' or 'to travel on horseback' (related to Proto-Germanic '*rīdaną').

'ride' changed from Old English 'rīdan' (and from Proto-Germanic '*rīdaną') through Middle English forms such as 'riden' and eventually became the modern English word 'ride'.

Initially, it meant 'to sit on and control the movement of a horse'; over time the meaning broadened to include traveling by or in other vehicles and figurative senses (e.g., 'a ride on the ups and downs').