Etymograph

English

raffle

Raffle comes from Old French rafle, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną ‘to scratch, scrape’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to turn, bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to turn, bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreb(h)-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrapōną‘to scratch, scrape’reconstructed
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*raffolōnreconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rafle
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rafle
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1953raffle

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to turn, bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreb(h)-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrapōną‘to scratch, scrape’reconstructed
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*raffolōnreconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400rafle
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rafle
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1953raffle

Earliest quotation: 1953, Jet, Johnson Publishing Company: “The raffle was a big success—too big, in fact.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to turn, bend’

short, across, share, card, cross, cancer, screen, score, shirt, circuit, circle, crucial, curve, scare, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, scar, cancellation, scrutiny, shrine, crest, circa, corona, shear, scorpion, shred, carnage, incarceration, circulate, carcinoma, corolla, scorn, shrewd, crux, shard, carnal, cirque, 119 more

Today it means

noun A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / raffle

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