rascal

rascal

See also: Rascal

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɑːskl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹæskl̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːskəl, -æskəl

Noun

rascal (plural rascals)

1. A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
   • 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, OCLC 316392309, Act III:

     Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]

2. Sometimes diminutive: a cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.

   That little rascal bit me!

   If you have deer in the area, you may have to put a fence around your garden to keep the rascals out.

3. (Papua New Guinea) A member of a criminal gang.

Synonyms

• (dishonest person; rogue): see Thesaurus:villain
• (cheeky person): devil, imp, mischief-maker, scamp, scoundrel; see also Thesaurus:troublemaker

Translations

dishonest person

Bulgarian: мошеник (bg) (mošenik) Catalan: brètol (ca) m, bandarra (ca) m or f Esperanto: kanajlo (eo), fripono (eo) Finnish: kelmi (fi), ketku (fi) French: racaille (fr) f Galician: moinante (gl), zafado m German: Gauner (de) m, Strolch (de) m, Bösewicht (de) m, Schurke (de) m Hungarian: gazember (hu) Interlingua: scelerato, picaro Irish: alfraits f Latin: furcifer m, furcifera f, verberō m Malayalam: തെമ്മാടി (ml) (temmāṭi), നികൃഷ്‌ടൻ (ml) (nikr̥ṣ‌ṭaṉ) Maori: nanakia Portuguese: pilantra (pt) m or f Slovak: darebák, darebáčka Spanish: pícaro (es) m, bribón (es) m

cheeky person

Arabic: Moroccan Arabic: مسخوط‎ m (masḵūṭ) Burmese: ငတေ (my) (nga.te) Catalan: bordegàs (ca) m, bordegassa (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 臭小孩兒／臭小孩儿 (chòu xiǎoháir), 小淘氣／小淘气 (zh) (xiǎotáoqì), 壞蛋／坏蛋 (zh) (huàidàn) Czech: rošťák m, uličník (cs) m, drzoun (cs) m, parchant (cs) m Dutch: bengel (nl) m, rakker (nl) m, rekel (nl) m, vlegel (nl) m, deugniet (nl), schoffie (nl) n, doerak (nl) Esperanto: kanajlo (eo), fripono (eo), bubaĉo Finnish: riiviö (fi), ilkiö (fi), hulivili, vintiö (fi), ilkimys French: canaille (fr) f, coquin (fr) m, crapule (fr) f, filou (fr) m, fripon (fr) m, fripouille (fr) f, gredin (fr) m, scélérat (fr) m Galician: pillabán (gl), pícaro, mangoleteiro (gl), renarte, guímaro m German: Bengel (de) m, Strolch (de) m, Schlingel (de) m, Frechdachs (de) m, Lümmel (de) m, Rabauke (de) m,Racker (de) m Alemannic German: Birbant m Greek: κατεργάρης (el) m (katergáris) Hindi: दुष्ट (hi) m (duṣṭ) Hungarian: csirkefogó (hu) (diminutive), csibész (hu) (diminutive) Indonesian: bajingan (id) (pejorative) Irish: alfraits f, bithiúnach m Italian: briccone (it) m, canaglia (it) f, manigoldo (it) m Japanese: 野郎 (ja) (やろう, yarō) Latin: furcifer Macedonian: мангуп m (mangup) Malayalam: തെമ്മാടി (ml) (temmāṭi), പോക്കിരി (ml) (pōkkiri) Maori: nauhea, nauwhea, tainanakia Persian: قالتاق‎ (fa) (qâltâq) Polish: łajdak (pl) m, łotr (pl) m, szubrawiec (pl) m, urwis (pl) m, łobuz (pl) m, łobuziak m, ancymon (pl) m, baciar (pl) m (regional) Portuguese: patife (pt) m, canalha (pt) Romanian: mișel (ro), ticălos (ro) Russian: него́дник (ru) m (negódnik), него́дница (ru) f (negódnica), плут (ru) m (plut), плуто́вка (ru) f (plutóvka), шельме́ц (ru) m (šelʹméc), ше́льма (ru) m or f (šélʹma) Scottish Gaelic: slaightear m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: лу́пеж m Roman: lúpež (sh) m Slovak: šibal, nezbedník, nezbednica Sorbian: Upper Sorbian: worakawc (hsb) m Spanish: canalla (es) Swedish: lymmel (sv), rackare (sv), slyngel (sv) Walloon: calfurtî (wa) m, rénnvåt (wa) m Welsh: cenau (cy) m, gwalch m Yiddish: מזיק‎ m (mazek)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) bubaĉo Ido: (please verify) bubacho (io)

Adjective

rascal (comparative more rascal, superlative most rascal)

1. (archaic) Low; lowly, part of or belonging to the common rabble.

Translations

part of the common rabble

Dutch: gemeen (nl), ordinair (nl), vulgair (nl) French: ordinaire (fr) Polish: (collective) hołota (pl) f

Derived terms

• rascality
• rascally
• rascalry

Further reading

• Rascal in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Claars, craals, lascar, sacral, sarlac, scalar