rogue English · revision 15234

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1561}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɹəʊɡ/; /ˈɹoʊɡ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a word of shadowy origin,^(Etymonline) one of many cant terms recorded from the mid-16th century,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) perhaps a shortening of roger (with a hard g), thieves' slang for a begging vagabond who pretended to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge (about 1540),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) itself perhaps an English agent noun from [[la|rogō|t=to ask, beg]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Klein traced it to Celtic, comparing [[br|rog|t=haughty]];^(Etymonline) the OED finds no evidence of a link with [[fr|rogue|t=arrogant]] (from [[non|hrókr]]), though the French word may have influenced the spelling.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster calls it of unknown origin.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An idle vagrant, one of the vagabond class: 1561, spelled roge, in Barnhart and the OED;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1560s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The spelling rogue is first recorded in 1591.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Trench notes that rogue once meant no more than a wandering beggar; the dishonesty was added later, as with [[tramp]] and [[vagabond]].^(Trench 1859) A dishonest, unprincipled person is from 1578 (the 1570s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and a playful term for a mischievous person from 1597.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A savage elephant living apart from the herd is from 1859,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) rendering Sinhalese words for thief,^(Hoad 1986) and an inferior plant among seedlings from the same year.^(OED 1989) The adjective, uncontrolled or undisciplined, as in ''a rogue state'', is by 1964.^(Etymonline) Rogues' gallery, a police collection of photographs of criminals, is American English from 1859.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1540 – roger, a begging vagabond.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1561 – roge, a vagrant.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1578 – a dishonest person.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1597 – a mischievous person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1859 – a rogue elephant; rogues' gallery.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1964 – rogue (adjective), uncontrolled.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A dishonest or unprincipled person; a [[scoundrel]] or [[rascal]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(often jocular)'' A mischievous person; a [[scamp]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[vagrant]] or wandering beggar.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A vicious animal living apart from its herd, especially an [[elephant]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An inferior or abnormal plant or specimen among others.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Acting on its own in an uncontrolled or dangerous way: ''a rogue trader''.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[roguish]]

+ * [[roguishly]]

+ * [[roguishness]]

+ * [[outrogue]]

+ * [[roguery]]

+ * [[rogue elephant]]

+ * [[rogues' gallery]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rogation]]

+ * [[interrogate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}