ruffian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹʌfi.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French rufian (“pimp”),^[2][3][4][5] from Italian ruffiano (“pander, pimp”),^[2][3][4][6] of uncertain origin.^[3][4] Random House suggests Langobardic *hruf “scurf”,^[6] and Etymonline a Germanic word related to rough.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A man of low and brutal character, given to violence or crime (1531).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The Romance words kept the sense of a pimp or protector of prostitutes,^[4] a sense occasionally found in English in the 17th century.^[4][7] Barnhart and Etymonline suggest that the English sense of a rough, brutal person was influenced by the sound of rough, since the earliest English uses refer to violence and theft rather than pimping.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1531 – a brutal, violent man.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1533 – adjective.^[3]
• 1560 – a swaggering bully, now obsolete.^[7]
• about 1618 – a pimp, now obsolete.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A violent, lawless person; a thug or bully.

Adjective

1. Tough, lawless and brutal.

Word family

• ruffianism
• ruffianly

Usage notes

Random House gives brute, tough, knave, rogue and blackguard as synonyms.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press