ruffian
English
Etymology
From Middle French rufian, from Italian ruffiano (“pimp”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɹʌfi.ən/
Audio (UK) (file) - Hyphenation: ruf‧fi‧an
Noun
ruffian (plural ruffians)
- A scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.
- Synonyms: rogue, scamp; see also Thesaurus:troublemaker
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i], page 145, column 1:
- What wilt thou on thy death-bed play the Ruffian?
- 1894, George du Maurier, “Part Fifth: Little Billee: An Interlude”, in Trilby: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, OCLC 174215199, page 259:
- It was at Count Siloszech's. He'd heard her sing in the streets, with a tall, black-bearded ruffian, who accompanied her on a guitar, and a little fiddling gypsy fellow. She was a handsome woman, with hair down to her knees, but stupid as an owl.
- (obsolete) A pimp; a pander.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pimp
- (obsolete) A lover; a paramour.
- 1621, John Reynolds, The Triumphs of God's Revenge against the crying and execrable Sinne of Murther
- He [her husband] is no sooner abroad than she is instantly at home, revelling with her ruffians.
- 1621, John Reynolds, The Triumphs of God's Revenge against the crying and execrable Sinne of Murther
Translations
scoundrel, rascal
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Verb
ruffian (third-person singular simple present ruffians, present participle ruffianing, simple past and past participle ruffianed)
- To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:
- Methinks the wind does speak aloud at land; A fuller blast ne'er shook our battlements. If it hath ruffianed so upon the sea.
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Adjective
ruffian (comparative more ruffian, superlative most ruffian)
- Brutal; cruel; savagely boisterous; murderous.
- ruffian rage
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for ruffian in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʁy.fjɑ̃/
Audio (file)
Noun
ruffian m (plural ruffians)
- Alternative spelling of rufian
- 1943, Jean Ray, Malpertuis, 1978 ed., p. 8
- Il n'y a que la fortune pour faire d'un ruffian un honnête homme, soumis aux lois humaines.
- 1943, Jean Ray, Malpertuis, 1978 ed., p. 8
Further reading
- “ruffian”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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