Etymograph

English

rag week

Rag week may come from English rag ‘tease’.

  1. English1500–presentrag1‘tease’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1949rag week1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rag week
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1949, The Texas Outlook: “This week has been the University College Rag Week.…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentragWiktionary, English rag week‘tease’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1949rag weekWiktionary, English rag week. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1949, The Texas Outlook: “This week has been the University College Rag Week.…”

A compound of rag ‘university students society run for charitable…’ + week

Proto-Germanic *rawwa-

Old Norse rǫgg ‘tuft’

Old English ragg

Middle English ragge ‘rag, cloth scrap’

English rag

Proto-Indo-European *weyg- ‘to bend’

Proto-Germanic *wikǭ ‘sequence’

Proto-West Germanic *wikā

Old English wice

Middle English wyke

English week

Every English word from English rag

Today it means

noun An annual event in many universities where students engage in unusual activities to raise money for charity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rag week”. 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 / English rag / rag week

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