名詞 ragamuffin:

1. a dirty shabbily clothed urchin
   同義詞：tatterdemalion

rag.a.muf.fin

n.（名詞）
A shabbily clothed, dirty child.
流浪兒童：衣衫襤褸的臟孩子

來源：
Middle English Ragamuffyn [a personal name]
中古英語(yǔ) Ragamuffyn [人名]
probably raggi [ragged] from ragge [rag] * see rag
可能為 raggi [撕破的] 源自 ragge [碎布] *參見 rag
Middle Dutch moffel, muffe [mitten] * see muff 2
中古荷蘭語(yǔ) moffel, muffe [棒球手套，拳擊手套] *參見 muff2

<注釋>Perhapsragamuffin should be seen as an example of melioration, or improvement in the sense of a word, since it can now be used rather affectionately of children who are normally far from dirty or unkempt.In any event,even its use for an unkempt child or man represents something of an improvementover one of its earliest uses.Ragamuffin was a name given to a demon in Piers Plowman, an allegorical poem of the 4th century. This name was once thought to be the source of our word,but researches at theMiddle English Dictionary have shown that the word was used as the last name of a woman, Isabella Ragamuffyn, earlier in the 4th century (344), before the poem was composed.The word even then had the sense .ragged lout, tattered oaf,.though it was found only in names.The elementraga- is probably from the Middle English adjective raggi, .ragged,. also used of the devil in the sense .shaggy. and as a name.The element-muffin is probably from Middle Dutch moffel or muffe, .mitten..
也許ragamuffin 這個(gè)詞應(yīng)該看作詞義變良或改善的例子， 因?yàn)樗F(xiàn)在可以用來充滿感情地指那些按常規(guī)來說遠(yuǎn)非骯臟或不整潔的孩子。不論如何，即使它被用來指那些不整潔的孩子或大人的時(shí)候，其用法較最初也有了很大提高。Ragamuffin 是4世紀(jì)的一部寓言詩(shī) 犁者碼頭 中一個(gè)魔鬼的名字。 這個(gè)名字一度被認(rèn)為是本詞的來源，但對(duì)中世紀(jì)英語(yǔ)詞典 的研究表明這個(gè)詞曾在4世紀(jì)早期(344年）用作一位婦女的姓，伊莎貝拉·拉格姆芬， 這早于那首詩(shī)創(chuàng)作之前。這個(gè)詞甚至還曾有衣裳破爛的粗人、襤褸的呆子的意思，盡管此詞僅見于姓名。構(gòu)詞成分raga- 可能源自中古英語(yǔ)的形容詞 raggi .破爛的.， 也曾以.毛長(zhǎng)而參差不齊.這個(gè)意思用于魔鬼和人名。構(gòu)詞成分-muffin 可能來自中世紀(jì)荷蘭語(yǔ)中 moffel 或意為.連指手套.的 muffe