# rag
## English
### Pronunciation

* (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɹæɡ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æɡ

### Etymology 1

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.

#### Noun

rag (plural rags)
* (especially in the plural) Tattered clothes (clothing).
    —What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?
    It's semiformal. I can't show up dressed in rags!
    rags to riches
** 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:And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.
* A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.
    Hyponyms: dishrag, do-rag, washrag
** 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 490-491:Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toss'd, / And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads,
** 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the year MDCXLVIII‎, page 399:[…] even by the law of their own might and malice, not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty.
* (derogatory) A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin.
** 1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Irelande:For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came in, both tag and rag
** 1623, Ben Jonson, Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours:The other zealous rag is the compositor, / Who in an angle where the ants inhabit, / (The emblems of his labors) will sit curl'd
** 1986 February 8, anonymous author, “It's Not The Sex, It's The Morality”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 29, page 5:Nor will it be achieved by marching in the streets in leather, drag, chains, fish net over-flying-tits or any other get up. It will not be accomplished by hung-over bar rags, hustlers, shallow queens, or angry dykes.
* A ragged edge in metalworking.
    Coordinate terms: bur, burr
* (nautical, slang) A sail, or any piece of canvas.
** 1864, James Russell Lowell, My Garden Acquaintance; A Good Word for Winter; A Moosehead Journal, page 83:Our ship was a clipper, with every rag set, stunsails, sky-scrapers, and all.
** 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 191:"'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."
* (singular or plural, slang) Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.
** 2020, Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, page 56:"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."
* (slang, derogatory) A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality.
    Synonym: fish wrap
** 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:"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."
* (poker) A poor, low-ranking kicker.
    I have ace-four on my hand. In other words, I have ace-rag.
* (slang, theater) A curtain of various kinds.
* (dated) A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy.
** 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:"It took it out of me, though. I'm a rag this morning." "They work you too hard, dear."
* (slang, obsolete) A banknote.
** 1876, The Shamrock, volume 14: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.

##### Derived terms

* bean rag
* boiled rag
* chew the rag
* cumrag
* cuntrag
* dishrag
* do-rag
* fag rag
* glad rags
* head rag
* in rag order
* in rags
* jam rag
* jizzrag
* lose one's rag
* main rag
* oily rag
* on the rag
* rag and bone man
* rag-and-bone man
* rag-and-bone shop
* ragazine
* ragbag
* rag bagger
* ragbond
* rag book
* rag-box
* rag-chewing
* rag doll
* ragged
* ragger
* raggy
* raghead
* raghorn
* ragleaf
* raglike
* ragman
* rag paper
* ragpick
* ragpicker
* rag pudding
* rag race
* rag-roll
* rag-rolling
* rag rug
* rags and tatters
* rag-shop
* rags to riches, rags-to-riches
* ragtag
* ragtop
* rag trade
* ragweed
* ragworm
* ragwort
* red-ragger
* red rag to a bull, red rag
* shag-rag
* shaving rag
* smell of an oily rag
* snot rag
* stab-rag
* stone-rag
* tag-rag
* toe rag
* toe-rag
* washrag
* wet rag

##### Descendants

* → Kashubian: reksa (United States)

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Verb

rag (third-person singular simple present rags, present participle ragging, simple past and past participle ragged)
* (transitive) To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.
* (intransitive) To become tattered.
* (intransitive, vulgar, slang, sometimes euphemistic) To menstruate.

##### Derived terms

* rag off
* rag out

### Etymology 2

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

#### Noun

rag (countable and uncountable, plural rags)
* A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.
** 2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 1: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.

##### Derived terms

* coral rag
* Kentish rag
* ragwork
* Rowley rag

#### Verb

rag (third-person singular simple present rags, present participle ragging, simple past and past participle ragged)
* To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
    Hypernym: dress
* To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.
    Hypernym: dress
    Near-synonym: rough

### Etymology 3

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

#### Verb

rag (third-person singular simple present rags, present participle ragging, simple past and past participle ragged)
* 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.
    Synonyms: beat, thrash
    Hypernym: ride hard and put away wet
* To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.

##### Derived terms

* bullirag
* rag the puck
* rag on

##### Translations
#### Noun

rag (plural rags)
* (dated) A prank or practical joke.
** 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed‎: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.'
* (UK, Ireland) A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.

##### Derived terms

* rag day
* rag week

### Etymology 4

Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.

#### Noun

rag (plural rags)
* (obsolete, US) An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands. [19th c.]
* A ragtime song, dance or piece of music. [from 19th c.]

##### Translations
#### Verb

rag (third-person singular simple present rags, present participle ragging, simple past and past participle ragged)
* (transitive, informal) To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time.
** 2020, Ned Bennett, How To Play Jazz Saxophone, page 9:Now let's rag it. We'll keep the notes more or less the same but make the rhythm more fun.
* (intransitive, informal) To dance to ragtime music.
* (music, obsolete) To add syncopation (to a tune) and thereby make it appropriate for a ragtime song.

### References

* ↑ Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN
* ↑ 2001. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America. Garland Publishing. Ellen Koskoff (Ed.). Pg. 651.
* (banknote): John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

### Anagrams

* Gra, gar, grá, Arg., Gar, RGA, GAR, ARG, arg, agr-, arg.

## Breton
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Preposition

rag
* before

## Cornish
### Etymology

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

### Preposition

rag
* for
* in order to

#### Inflection

| | Singular | Plural |
| First person | ragov, ragam, raga'ma | ragon, raga nei |
| Second person | ragos | ragowgh, raga hwei |
| Third person | ragdho, rag ev(m); rygdhi, rag hei(f) | ragdha, ragtans, rag anjei |

## Dutch
### Etymology 1

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

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /rɑx/
* Audio:(file)

#### Noun

rag n (plural raggen, diminutive ragje n)
* spider silk

##### Synonyms

* spinrag

##### Derived terms

* ragfijn

### Etymology 2

From English rag.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈrɛɡ/

#### Noun

rag n (plural rags, diminutive ragje n)
* a piece of ragtime music

## German
### Verb

rag
* singular imperative of ragen
* (colloquial) first-person singular present of ragen

## Green Hmong
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʈa˧˩̤/

### Noun

rag
* knife, small sword

## Hungarian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈrɒɡ]
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: rag
* Rhymes: -ɒɡ

### Noun

rag (plural ragok)
* (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)
    Hypernym: toldalék
    Coordinate terms: képző, jel

#### Derived terms

* ragos
* ragoz
* ragtalan
* birtokrag
* előrag
* esetrag
* határozórag
* igerag
* ragjegy
* ragrím
* ragszám
* személyrag
* tárgyrag
* viszonyrag

### See also

* Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

### Further reading

* (suffix): rag in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* ([regional] a kind of beam or a part of the roof): rag in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## North Frisian
### Alternative forms

* reeg (Mooring)
* Rech (Sylt)

### Etymology

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

### Noun

rag m (plural rager)
* (Föhr-Amrum) back (rear of the body)

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

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”).

### Adjective

rag
* stiff, rigid, inflexible
* stubborn, obstinate

#### Derived terms

* rag-mhuinealach

### Further reading

* MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “rag”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎, Stirling, →ISBN

## Somali
### Noun

rag ?
* man

## Tat
### Etymology

Cognate with Northern Kurdish reg.

### Noun

rag
* root

## Zhuang
### Pronunciation

* (Standard Zhuang) IPA: /ɣaːk˧/
* Tone numbers: rag$^8$
* Hyphenation: rag

### Etymology 1

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.

#### Noun

rag (1957–1982 spelling rag)
* root

### Etymology 2

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.

#### Verb

rag (1957–1982 spelling rag)
* to drag; to pull; to haul