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ragamuffin

 - 3 dictionary results

rag⋅a⋅muf⋅fin

[rag-uh-muhf-in]
–noun
1. a ragged, disreputable person; tatterdemalion.
2. a child in ragged, ill-fitting, dirty clothes.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in the poem Piers Plowman


2. waif, urchin, guttersnipe, street arab.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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rag·a·muf·fin or rag·ga·muf·fin   (rāg'ə-mŭf'ĭn)   
n.  A shabbily clothed, dirty child.

[Middle English Ragamuffyn, a personal name : probably raggi, ragged (from ragge, rag; see rag1) + Middle Dutch moffel, muffe, mitten; see muff2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ragamuffin 
1344, from M.E. raggi "ragged" + fanciful ending (or else second element is M.Du. muffe "mitten"). Ragged was used of the devil from c.1300 in ref. to "shaggy" appearance. Used by Langland as the name of a demon (cf. O.Fr. Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in a mystery play); sense of "dirty, disreputable boy" is from 1581.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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