Etymograph

English

rag

Rag comes from Middle English ragge ‘rag, cloth scrap’, from Old Norse rǫgg ‘tuft’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rawwa-1reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350rǫgg1‘tuft’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ragg1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ragge1‘rag, cloth scrap’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1596rag1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rag
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser: “For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rawwa-Wiktionary, English ragreconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350rǫggWiktionary, English rag‘tuft’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150raggWiktionary, English rag
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500raggeWiktionary, English rag‘rag, cloth scrap’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1596ragWiktionary, English rag. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser: “For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came…”

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Old Norse rǫgg ‘tuft’

rug, rugged, 1 more

Today it means

noun Tattered clothes (clothing).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rag”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *rawwa- / rag

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