Where does “rascality” come from?
Rascality comes from English rascal plus the suffix -ity, from French rascalité, from Latin rascalitas, ultimately deriving from Proto-Italic razdō meaning to scrape or scratch.
rascality (English): Rascals collectively; the rabble, the masses; The...
Definitions
- Rascals collectively; the rabble, the masses; The...
Ancestry of “rascality”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | rascal | A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a... |
| 2 | Middle English | rascaile | people of the lowest class; rabble of an army |
| 3 | Old French | rascaille | rabble; mob |
| 4 | Old French | rasque | mud, filth, scab, dregs |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | rasico | to scrape |
| 6 | Latin | rāsus | — |
| 7 | Latin | rādō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | razdō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | rh₁d-dʰ- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | reh₁d- | to scrape, scratch, gnaw |