Roubaix

a city in Nord department, France; Patronymic name affixed with “de”, given after the city's name: Roubaix

“Volume 24 of the Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. New York, International Publishers Extract from article “Two Model Town Councils” written by Frederick Engels, originally published in The Labour Standard No. 8 on June 25, 1881” — Shortly before the establishment of the Labour Standard, there was a strike of factory operatives in the town of Roubaix, close on the Belgian frontier. (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Related: Roubaisian

Probably of Frankish origin, from *rausa (“reed”) + *baki (“brook”), from Proto-Germanic *rauzą + *bakiz. For the first element see roseau (“reed”).