Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rigmarole” come from?

Rigmarole comes from English ragman roll, a game or list of random items, though the exact semantic connection remains unclear.

rigmarole (English): A long and complicated procedure that seems...

Definitions

  1. A long and complicated procedure that seems...

Ancestry of “rigmarole”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishragman rollAny of a collection of legal documents in which...

Words derived from “rigmarole”

  • rigmarolish
  • rigmarolic
Every word from English ragman roll →