47 entries found

rag (n.)

scrap of cloth, early 14c., probably from Old Norse rögg "shaggy tuft," earlier raggw-, or possibly from Old Danish rag (see rug), or a back-formation from ragged, It also may represent an unrecorded Old English cognate of Old Norse rögg. In any case, from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, from PIE root *reue- (2) "to smash, knock down, tear up, uproot" (see rough (adj.)). As an insulting term for "newspaper, magazine" it dates from 1734; slang for "tampon, sanitary napkin" is attested from 1930s (on the rag "menstruating" is from 1948). Rags "personal clothing" is from 1855 (singular), American English. Rags-to-riches "rise from poverty to wealth" is attested by 1896. Rag-picker is from 1860; rag-shop from 1829.

rag (v.)

"scold," 1739, of unknown origin; perhaps related to Danish dialectal rag "grudge." Related: Ragged; ragging. Compare bullyrag, ballarag "intimidate" (1807).

rag-bag (n.)

1820, from rag (n.1) + bag (n.). Figurative sense of "motley collection" is by 1864.

do-rag (n.)

by 1973 (said in DAS to date to 1960s), African-American vernacular, from hairdo + rag (n.).

rag-doll (n.)

child's plaything, 1776 (from 1757 as "a dressed-up woman"), from rag (n.1) + doll (n.). Rag-baby attested from 1798. Shakespeare has babe of clowts (i.e. "clouts"), 1590s.

ragtop (n.)

"convertible car," 1954, from rag (n.) + top (n.1).

raghead (n.)

insulting term for "South Asian or Middle Eastern person," 1910, from rag (n.) + head (n.); in reference to turbans, etc.

ragtag (n.)

also rag-tag, "ragged people collectively," 1820, from rag (n.) + tag (n.); originally in expression rag-tag and bobtail "the rabble" (tag-rag and bobtail is found in 1650s), with bobtail an old 17c. word for "cur." Tag and rag was "very common in 16-17th c." [OED]

reggae (n.)

1968, Jamaican English (first in song title "Do the Reggay" by Toots & the Maytals), perhaps [OED, Barnhart] related to rege-rege "a quarrel, protest," literally "ragged clothes," variant of raga-raga, alteration and reduplication of English rag (n.).

ragged (adj.)

"rough, shaggy," c. 1300, past-participle adjective as though from a verb form of rag (n.). Compare Latin pannosus "ragged, wrinkly," from pannus "piece of cloth." But the word might reflect a broader, older meaning; perhaps from or reinforced by Old Norse raggaðr "shaggy," via Old English raggig "shaggy, bristly, rough" (which, Barnhart writes, "was almost surely developed from Scandinavian"). Of clothes, early 14c.; of persons, late 14c. To run (someone) ragged is from 1915. Related: Raggedly; raggedness.
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