rascal

rascal
\ \ [14] Rascal has been traced back ultimately to Latin rāderescratch’. Its past participial stem rās- (source of English erase and razor) formed the basis of a Vulgar Latin verb *rāsicāre. From this was derived the noun *rāsicascurf, scab, dregs, filth’, which passed into Old Northern French as *rasque (its central Old French counterpart, rasche, may be the source of English rash). And it could well be that this *rasque lies behind Old French rascaillemob, rabble’, which gave English rascal (the English word originally meant ‘rabble’ too, but the application to an individual person emerged in the 15th and 16th centuries). Rapscallion [17] is an alteration of a now defunct rascallion, which may have derived from rascal.
\ \ Cf.ERASE, RAPSCALLION, RASH, RAZOR

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Rascal — or rascals may refer to:In music: * Dizzee Rascal, a solo artist * The Rascals, an American soul group of the 1960s * Rascal Flatts, an American country group * Rascalz, a Canadian hip hop group * The Rascals (English band), an English 3 piece… …   Wikipedia

  • Rascal — Ras cal (r[a^]s kal), n. [OE. rascaille rabble, probably from an OF. racaille, F. racaille the rabble, rubbish, probably akin to F. racler to scrape, (assumed) LL. rasiculare, rasicare, fr. L. radere, rasum. See {Rase}, v.] [1913 Webster] 1. One… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Rascal — Ras cal, a. Of or pertaining to the common herd or common people; low; mean; base. The rascal many. Spencer. The rascal people. Shak. [1913 Webster] While she called me rascal fiddler. Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • rascal — index malefactor Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • rascal — early 14c., rascaile people of the lowest class, rabble of an army, from O.Fr. rascaille outcast, rabble (12c.), perhaps from rasque mud, filth, scab, dregs, from V.L. *rasicare to scrape (see RASH (Cf. rash) (n.)). The singular form is first… …   Etymology dictionary

  • rascal — *villain, scoundrel, blackguard, knave, rogue, scamp, rapscallion, miscreant …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • rascal — [n] person who is unprincipled, does not work hard beggar, blackguard, black sheep*, bully, bum, cad, cardsharp*, charlatan, cheat, delinquent, devil, disgrace, felon, fraud, goodfor nothing*, grafter, hooligan*, hypocrite, idler, imp, liar,… …   New thesaurus

  • rascal — ► NOUN ▪ a mischievous or cheeky person. DERIVATIVES rascality noun rascally adjective. ORIGIN originally in the senses «a mob» and «member of the rabble»: from Old French rascaille rabble …   English terms dictionary

  • rascal — [ras′kəl] n. [ME rascaile < OFr rascaille, scrapings, dregs, rabble < * rasquer, to scrape < VL * rasicare < L rasus: see RAZE] 1. a scoundrel; rogue; scamp: now usually used jokingly or affectionately, as of a mischievous child 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • rascal —    Formerly a word of much stronger meaning than it has today, when it is normally applied to a naughty child, especially a boy. It originally meant a man who was one of the common herd, a rogue, and a knave. ‘You whoreson cowardly rascal,’ used… …   A dictionary of epithets and terms of address

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