rash

See also: Rash

English
WOTD – 18 April 2022

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

The adjective is derived from Middle English rash, rasch (“hasty, headstrong, rash”) [and other forms],[1] probably from Old English *ræsċ (“rash”) (found in derivatives such as ræsċan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”), ræsċettan (“to crackle, sparkle”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *rask, *raskī, *rasku, from Proto-Germanic *raskaz, *raskuz, *raþskaz, *raþskuz (“rash; rapid”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run, roll”). The Middle English word was probably influenced by the cognates listed below.[2]

The adverb is derived from Middle English rashe (“quickly, rapidly”), from rash, rasch (adjective) (see above).[2][3]

cognates

Adjective

rash (comparative rasher, superlative rashest)

  1. Acting too quickly without considering the consequences and risks; not careful; hasty.
    Synonyms: foolhardy, heady, impulsive, precipitate; see also Thesaurus:reckless
    Antonyms: prudent, unrash, shy, timid, cautious, careful
    rash words spoken in the heat of debate
  2. (Northern England, archaic) Of corn or other grains: so dry as to fall out of the ear with handling.
  3. (obsolete, rare)
    1. Requiring swift action; pressing; urgent.
    2. Taking effect quickly and strongly; fast-acting.
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

rash (comparative more rash, superlative most rash)

  1. (archaic) Synonym of rashly (“in a rash manner; hastily or without due consideration”)
Translations
synonym of rashly — see rashly

Etymology 2
A rash (sense 1) on the face of a child caused by measles.

Probably from Old French rasche, rache (“skin eruption, rash; (specifically) scabies, scurf”) (obsolete), from racher (“to scrape; to scratch”) (although this is only directly attested later than the noun), from Vulgar Latin *rāsicāre (“to scrape”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped, scratched; shaved”), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”),[4] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, scratch; to gnaw”). Doublet of rase and raze.

cognates

Noun

rash (plural rashes)

  1. (dermatology, medicine) An area of inflamed and irritated skin characterized by reddened spots that may be filled with fluid or pus; also, preceded by a descriptive word (rare or obsolete), an illness characterized by a type of rash.
    He came out in a rash because of an allergy.
    She applied rash cream on herself to reduce the irritation.
    A wet cloth should help with the rash on your arm.
  2. (figuratively)
    1. An irregular distribution or sprinkling of objects resembling a rash (sense 1).
    2. An outbreak or surge in problems; a spate, string, or trend.
      Synonym: epidemic
      There has been a rash of vandalism lately.
      • 1854, Charles Dickens, “Lower and Lower”, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, book the second (Reaping), page 252:
        Wet through and through: with her feet squelching and squashing in her shoes whenever she moved; with a rash of rain upon her classical visage; […]
      • 1964 July, “News and Comment: The Broad Street-Richmond line”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
        Until the recent rash of North London line maps appeared on station billboards in the London area of BR, the service undoubtedly suffered from meagre and ineffectual publicity.
      • 2019 April 25, Samanth Subramanian, “Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 January 2022:
        Science has tried and failed to come to a consensus about the hygienic superiority of one product over the other. Even so, the paper towel industry has funded or promoted a rash of studies claiming that hand dryers turn bathrooms into mosh pits of pathogens.
Derived terms
Compound words and expressions
Translations

Etymology 3

Uncertain; the word is similar to other words from Germanic or Romance languages listed in the table below, but the connection between the English word and those words is unclear. One suggestion is that they ultimately derive from the town of Arras in France, known for its cloth and wool industries (whence arras (“tapestry, wall hanging”)); compare German Rasch (“lightly woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (said to be from Middle High German arrasch (“arras”), and ultimately from the name of the town), and the obsolete names for the fabric, Catalan drap de arraz, drap d'Arraç, Italian paño de ras (literally “cloth of Arras”). The Oxford English Dictionary states that even if rash did not originally derive from Arras, the name of the town could have influenced the English word.[5]

possible cognates
  • Catalan ras (“smooth fabric woven from silk”) (also raç (obsolete))
  • Danish rask (“thin, coarse woollen cloth usually made from worsted”) (also rasch (obsolete), derived from German)
  • Dutch ras (“woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (also rasch (obsolete, rare), rass (obsolete))
  • Middle French ras (modern French ras (“various types of short-nap cloth”))
  • German Rasch, Low German Rasch (“lightly woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (archaic or historical)
  • Italian raso (“smooth fabric woven from silk”), rascia (“serge”)
  • Late Latin rasum (“some form of fabric”), pannus rasus (“satin”)
  • Old Occitan ras (modern Occitan ras (“smooth fabric woven from silk”); also rac (obsolete))
  • Spanish raso (“smooth fabric woven from silk; other types of fabric”)
  • Swedish rask (“thin woollen cloth usually made from worsted; similar cloth made from silk”) (also rasch (archaic), rass (obsolete))

Noun

rash (uncountable)

  1. (historical) Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: a fabric with a smooth texture woven from silk, worsted, or a mixture of the two, intended as an inferior substitute for silk.
    cloth rash    silk rash
    • p. 1597, J[ohn] Donne, “[Satyres] Satyre IIII”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633, →OCLC, page 338:
      Sleeveleſſe his jerkin vvas, and it had beene / Velvet, but 'tvvas novv (ſo much ground vvas ſeene) / Become Tufftaffatie; and our children ſhall / See it plaine Raſhe avvhile, or nought at all.
Translations

Etymology 4

Imitative.[6]

Noun

rash (plural rashes)

  1. (obsolete) A soft crackling or rustling sound.
    • 1668 June 22 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), John Dryden, An Evening’s Love, or The Mock-Astrologer. […], In the Savoy [London]: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1671, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 3:
      Look on thoſe grave plodding fellovvs, […] I'll undertake three parts of four are going to their Courtezans. I tell thee, Jack, the vvhiſking of a Silk-Govvn, and the raſh of a Tabby-Pettycoat, are as comfortable ſounds to one of theſe rich Citizens, as the chink of their Pieces of Eight.

Etymology 5

From Late Middle English rashen, rassh (“to hasten, hurry, rush”) [and other forms],[7] from Old English ræscan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”);[8] see further at etymology 1.

probable cognates
  • Dutch rasschen, rassen (“to hasten, hurry, rush”) (obsolete)
  • Old Norse raska (“to dislodge, displace; to stir up”) (Swedish raska (“to hurry; to act carelessly or hastily”))

Verb

rash (third-person singular simple present rashes, present participle rashing, simple past and past participle rashed) (chiefly Scotland, archaic or obsolete)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To forcefully move or push (someone or something) in a certain direction.
    2. To break (something) forcefully; to smash.
      • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XX, Chapter iv, leaf 401v:
        Fair lordes sayd syre Launcelot leue your noyse and your rassyng and I shalle sette open this dore and thenne may ye doo with me what it lyketh yow.
        "Fair lords, said Sir Launcelot, leave your noise and your rashing, and I shall set open this door, and then may ye do with me what it liketh you."
    3. To emit or issue (something) hastily.
    4. (rare) Usually followed by up: to prepare (something) with haste; to cobble together, to improvise.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To move forcefully, hastily, or suddenly; to dash, to rush.
    2. Of rain: to fall heavily.
    3. Chiefly followed by against, at, or upon: to collide or hit.

Etymology 6
PIE word
*wréh₂ds

Probably an aphetic form of arace (“to tear up by the roots; to draw away”) (obsolete), from Middle English aracen (“to remove (something) by force, pluck or pull out, tear out; to grab; to lacerate; to flay or skin (an animal); to erase, obliterate”) [and other forms], from Old French aracer, arachier (“to pull off (by physical force)”) [and other forms] (whence Anglo-Norman racher, aracher (“to pluck out, pull out”); modern French arracher (“to pull up, tear out, uproot; to extract, take out (a tooth); to peel, pull off, rip off; to buy, snap up; to fight over; to tear (oneself) away from”)),[9][10] a variant of esrachier (“to eradicate, get rid of”), from Latin exrādīcāre, ērādīcāre, the present active infinitive of ērādīcō (“to root out; to annihilate, extirpate”), from ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + rādīx (“root of a plant”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).

Verb

rash (third-person singular simple present rashes, present participle rashing, simple past and past participle rashed) (transitive, archaic or obsolete)

  1. Chiefly followed by away, down, off, out, etc.: to pluck, pull, or rip (something) violently.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 8, page 214:
      There Marinell great deeds of armes did ſhevv; / And through the thickeſt like a Lyon flevv, / Raſhing off helmes, and ryuing plates a ſonder, / That euery one his daunger did eſchevv.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Ninth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 496, lines 1094–1095:
      His Creſt is raſh'd away; his ample Shield / Is falſify'd and round with Jav'lins fill'd.

Etymology 7

Probably a variant of race, raze (“to demolish; to destroy, obliterate; to scrape as if with a razor”), possibly modelled after rash (etymology 5 or etymology 6).[11] Raze is derived from Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figuratively) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”) [and other forms],[12] from Anglo-Norman raser, rasere, rasser, Middle French, Old French raser (“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin *raso (“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”); see further at etymology 2.

Verb

rash (third-person singular simple present rashes, present participle rashing, simple past and past participle rashed) (transitive, obsolete)

  1. To hack, slash, or slice (something).
  2. (rare) Chiefly followed by out: to scrape or scratch (something); to obliterate.

References
  1. “rash(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “rash, adj. and adv.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “rash1, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. “rashe, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. “rash, n.4”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “rash2, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. “rash, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  6. “rash, n.3”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2018.
  7. “rashen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  8. Compare “rash, v.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  9. “arācen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  10. “rash, v.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  11. “† rash, v.3”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
  12. “rāsen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Further reading

Anagrams
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