English
rascal
Rascal comes from Old French rascaille ‘outcast, rabble’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rascaille‘outcast, rabble’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rascaile‘people of the lowest class, rabble of an army’
- Englishearliest quotation 1601rascal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rascaille‘outcast, rabble’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rascaile‘people of the lowest class, rabble of an army’
- Englishearliest quotation 1601rascal
Earliest quotation: 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […]: “Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough?…”
first attested The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (‘people of the lowest class, rabble of an army’), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (‘outcast, rabble’) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (‘mud, filth, scab, dregs’), from Vulgar Latin *rasicō (‘to scrape’). The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586.
Every English word from Old French rascaille
Today it means
noun A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French rascaille / rascal