rag

ragov (first-person singular)
ragam (first-person singular)
raga'ma (first-person singular)
ragon (first-person plural)
raga nei (first-person plural)
ragos (second-person singular)
ragowgh (plural second-person)
raga hwei (plural second-person)
ragdho (singular third-person)
rag ev (singular third-person)
rag evm (singular third-person)
rygdhi (singular third-person)
rag hei (singular third-person)
rag heif (singular third-person)
ragdha (plural third-person)
ragtans (plural third-person)
rag anjei (plural third-person)

From Proto-Brythonic *rrak, from Proto-Indo-European *proko-, whence also Old Church Slavonic прокъ (prokŭ, “remaining”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-.


rag

nl-noun

rag n (plural raggen, diminutive ragje n)

raggen (plural)
ragje (diminutive neuter)

Unknown, only found to be related to West Frisian reach, though possibly more distantly to Old Saxon raginna (“rough hair”), Old English ragu (“moss”).


rag

—What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?

It's semiformal. I can't show up dressed in rags!

rags to riches

And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.

1684, John Dryden, Miscellany Poems: Containing a New Translation of Virgills Eclogues, Ovid's Love Elegies, Odes of Horace and Other Authors, The twenty-ninth ode of the first book of Horace:

(especially in the plural) Tattered clothes (clothing).

Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toss'd, / And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads,

1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 490-491:

[…]even by the law of their own might and malice, not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty.

1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the year MDCXLVIII, page 399:

A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.

The other zealous rag is the compositor, / Who in an angle where the ants inhabit, / (The emblems of his labors) will sit curl'd

1623, Ben Jonson, Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours:

For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came in, both tag and rag

1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Irelande:

(derogatory) A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin.

Our ship was a clipper, with every rag set, stunsails, sky-scrapers, and all.

1864, James Russell Lowell, My Garden Acquaintance; A Good Word for Winter; A Moosehead Journal, page 83:

"'Oh yes, that's all very well, but we haven't done with it yet,' said the lad, 'we shall have it worse directly,' and he ordered them to furl every rag but the mizen."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 191:

(nautical, slang) A sail, or any piece of canvas.

"It's heaviest on the first day, which might be why it hurts so much. After that, it slows down and eventually stops, but you'll need the rags for about a week."

2020, Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, page 56:

(singular or plural, slang) Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.

"You must behave yourself, dear. Mr. Malone is a Pressman. He will have it all in his rag to-morrow, and sell an extra dozen among our neighbors."

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

(slang, derogatory) A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality.

I have ace-four on my hand. In other words, I have ace-rag.

(slang, theater) A curtain of various kinds.

"It took it out of me, though. I'm a rag this morning." "They work you too hard, dear."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(dated) A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy.

What was he at, do you think? Counting bank-notes; he had bundles of them. […] Well, Guv'nor, he stood up by-and-by, and taking the bundles of rags, the big uns in one hand, tother ones in tother, he toddled out of the room; […] So I tucked my violin under my arm, and sallied out after the old budgy ragman, determined to ease him of his load at the very first lonesome corner I could track him to.

→ Kashubian: reksa (United States)

From Middle English ragge, from Old English ragg (suggested by derivative raggiġ (“shaggy; bristly; ragged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“tuft; shagginess”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, probably related to *rūhaz. Cognate with Swedish ragg. Related to rug.


rag

(transitive) To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.

(intransitive, vulgar, slang, sometimes euphemistic) To menstruate.

en-verb

rag (third-person singular simple present rags, present participle ragging, simple past and past participle ragged)

rags (present singular third-person)
ragging (participle present)
ragged (participle past)
ragged (past)


rag

the three walls around the garden, each one of thirty-three feet, were built out of three layers of stone — pebble stone, flint and rag stone.

2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 1:

A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.

en-noun

rag (countable and uncountable, plural rags)

Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.


rag

Near-synonym: rough

To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.


rag

To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter.

(British slang) To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast or unsympathetic manner.

To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.

задявам

To scold or rail at; to rate; to tease; to torment; to banter

Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.


rag

The rascal winked and grinned. 'There are always and means,' said he. 'But don't blame your foreman. He thought it was just a rag. I swapped clothes with his assistant, and in I came.'

1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:

(UK, Ireland) A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.


rag

(obsolete, US) An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands.

A ragtime song, dance or piece of music.

Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.


rag

Now let's rag it. We'll keep the notes more or less the same but make the rhythm more fun.

2020, Ned Bennett, How To Play Jazz Saxophone, page 9:

(transitive, informal) To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time.

(intransitive, informal) To dance to ragtime music.

(music, obsolete) To add syncopation (to a tune) and thereby make it appropriate for a ragtime song.


rag

(colloquial) first-person singular present of ragen


rag

From Burmese ဓား (dha:) ("knife" or "sword").


rag

(grammar) terminal inflectional suffix/affix, termination, ending (for nominals, mostly case endings; for verbs and postpositions, personal suffixes; almost exclusively at the very end of a word in Hungarian)

ragok (plural)
rag (nominative singular)
ragok (nominative plural)
ragot (accusative singular)
ragokat (accusative plural)
ragnak (dative singular)
ragoknak (dative plural)
raggal (instrumental singular)
ragokkal (instrumental plural)
ragért (causal-final singular)
ragokért (causal-final plural)
raggá (singular translative)
ragokká (plural translative)
ragig (singular terminative)
ragokig (plural terminative)
ragként (essive-formal singular)
ragokként (essive-formal plural)
ragban (inessive singular)
ragokban (inessive plural)
ragon (singular superessive)
ragokon (plural superessive)
ragnál (adessive singular)
ragoknál (adessive plural)
ragba (illative singular)
ragokba (illative plural)
ragra (singular sublative)
ragokra (plural sublative)
raghoz (allative singular)
ragokhoz (allative plural)
ragból (elative singular)
ragokból (elative plural)
ragról (delative singular)
ragokról (delative plural)
ragtól (ablative singular)
ragoktól (ablative plural)
ragé (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
ragoké (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
ragéi (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
ragokéi (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
ragom (first-person possessed-single possessive singular)
ragjaim (first-person possessed-many possessive singular)
ragod (possessed-single possessive second-person singular)
ragjaid (possessed-many possessive second-person singular)
ragja (possessed-single possessive singular third-person)
ragjai (possessed-many possessive singular third-person)
ragunk (first-person plural possessed-single possessive)
ragjaink (first-person plural possessed-many possessive)
ragotok (plural possessed-single possessive second-person)
ragjaitok (plural possessed-many possessive second-person)
ragjuk (plural possessed-single possessive third-person)
ragjaik (plural possessed-many possessive third-person)

Back-formation from ragad. Created during the Hungarian language reform, which took place in the 18th–19th centuries.


rag

From Old Frisian *hregg, from Proto-West Germanic *hrugi.


rag

From Proto-Celtic *razgo-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ- (“to bind”), see also Middle High German ric (“string, band”) and Old Irish riag (“a type of torture”).


rag

From Proto-Tai *C̬.raːkᴰ (“root”). Cognate with Thai ราก (râak), Northern Thai ᩁᩣ᩠ᨠ, Khün ᩁᩣ᩠ᨠ, Lao ຮາກ (hāk), Lü ᦣᦱᧅ (haak), Tai Dam ꪭꪱꪀ, Shan ႁၢၵ်ႈ (hāak), Ahom 𑜍𑜀𑜫 (rak), Nong Zhuang laeg, Zuojiang Zhuang lag, Saek ร̄าก.


rag

From Proto-Tai *C̬.laːkᴰ (“to pull; to drag”). Cognate with Thai ลาก (lâak), Lao ລາກ (lāk), Shan လၢၵ်ႈ (lāak), Ahom 𑜎𑜀𑜫 (lak), Nong Zhuang laeg, Zuojiang Zhuang lag.