different between maim vs ruffler

English

Etymology

From Middle English maymen, mahaymen, from Anglo-Norman maheimer, mahaigner, of Germanic origin; see mayhem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /me?m/
• Rhymes: -e?m

Verb

maim (third-person singular simple present maims, present participle maiming, simple past and past participle maimed)

1. To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.

   • Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with (by way of local colour) on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.

Synonyms

• mutilate

Derived terms

• maimer

Translations

Noun

maim (plural maims)

1. (obsolete) A serious wound

Anagrams

• I'mma, Imma, Mami, imam, imma, mami

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Tocharian *meim, a nominal derivative of *mei- (“to measure”). Possibly linked to Proto-Indo-European *mod-ye/o- or *m?dye/o-, derivatives of *med- (“to measure, give advice, heal”) (whence Latin meditor and Old Irish midithir), or alternatively to *meh?-ye/o- from *meh?- (“to measure”) (whence Latin m?tior). Compare Tocharian A mem.

Noun

maim ?

1. thought, thinking

English

Etymology

ruffle +? -er

Noun

ruffler (plural rufflers)

1. (historical) ruffian, bully, villain; especially a 16th-17th century vagabond operating under the guise of a maimed soldier or sailor
   • 1978, Michael Moorcock, Gloriana; or, The Unfulfill'd Queen, Chapter 1:

     The ruffler in leather, who lately went fighting through the door, has returned, presumably by means of another entrance.

2. swaggerer
3. a sewing machine attachment for making ruffles

Further reading

• ruffler at OneLook Dictionary Search