ragamuffin en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From the Middle English Ragamuffyn. Of uncertain origin, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a ‘regular muff’; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.
Meanings
-
A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.
He had found out the house of Frau von Einem without much trouble, and had performed with his ragamuffins in the servants' quarters.
1916, John Buchan, chapter 15, in Greenmantle:After walking a ways, Jurgis met a little ragamuffin whom he hailed: "Hey, sonny!"
1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XVIII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC:It features other small ones—a bunch of Dickensian ragamuffins and their leader played by Ron Moody in Oliver!—You've Got to Pick a Pocket Or Two.
2013 December 19, Peter Kimpton, “Readers recommend: songs about smuggling and stealing – results”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:I haue led my rag of Muffins where they are pepper'd: there's not three of my 150 left aliue; and they for the Townes end, to beg during life.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 71:“But may I inquire how you intend to support the establishment? If all the pupils are little ragamuffins, I’m afraid your crop won’t be profitable in a worldly sense, Mrs. Bhaer.”
1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Harvest Time”, in Little Women: […], 2nd part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 348:'Yes, he is mine—I took him, a homeless little ragamuffin, but I saw what was in him, and I said his name would be heard some day—behold him, observe him—was I right?'
1882, Mark Twain, chapter 12, in The Prince and the Pauper:"They called her a little blue raggamuffin, father," said Harry, who ran in, looking very angry; "but I have given it to them, they won't insult my sister again.[…]"
[1877], Anna Sewell, “The Election”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part III, page 206:A boy of the cheery gypsy ragamuffin variety.
1984, Douglas Adams, chapter 21, in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 112:
- (slang) A hooligan or troublemaker.
-
(alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Ragamuffin (“a breed of domestic cat”).
alt of Ragamuffin
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| raggamuffin | alternative | lexicographic | |
| ragamuffins | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
rajamuffin · ragamuffinly · ragamuffinism
Relateds
Translations (15)
pl łachmaniarz (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · es arrapiezo (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · ru оборва́нец (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · de Lumpenkind (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · pl obdartus (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · ru голодра́нец (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · bg у́личник (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · it straccione (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · fi resupekka (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · bg дри́пльо (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · es andrajoso (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · pl łapserdak (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · pt farrapo (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · mk у́личар (dirty, shabbily-clothed child) · nl schooiertje (dirty, shabbily-clothed child)