rascal

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.

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

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ɑːskəl, -æskəl

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, 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: […]

   • 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 33:

     And he smote Corinius on his shaven jowl with the dice box, calling him cheat and mangy rascal, whereupon Corinius drew forth a bodkin to smite him in the neck withal; […]

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.

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

rascal (comparative more rascal, superlative most rascal)

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

• rascality
• rascally
• rascalry

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

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