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rascal

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɑːskl̩/

The English word “rascal” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
  2. A cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.
  3. A member of a criminal gang.

adjective

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

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…

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