different between rascal vs ganef

English

Etymology

Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (“people of the lowest class, rabble of an army”), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasic? (“to scrape”). The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????skl?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??æskl?/
• Rhymes: -??sk?l, -æsk?l

Noun

rascal (plural rascals)

1. A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
2. Sometimes diminutive: a cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.

3. (Papua New Guinea) A member of a criminal gang.

Synonyms

• (dishonest person; rogue): see Thesaurus:villain
• (cheeky person): devil, imp, mischief-maker, scamp, scoundrel; see also Thesaurus:troublemaker

Translations

Adjective

rascal (comparative more rascal, superlative most rascal)

1. (archaic) Low; lowly, part of or belonging to the common rabble.

Translations

Derived terms

• rascality
• rascally
• rascalry

Further reading

• Rascal in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Claars, craals, lascar, sacral, sarlac, scalar

English

Alternative forms

• ganif, ganof, gonef, gonif, goniff, gannef, gonof, gonoff, gonoph, gonnof

Etymology

From Yiddish ????? (ganef), from Hebrew ???? (ganáv, “thief”).

Noun

ganef (plural ganefs or ganevim)

1. (slang, derogatory) A thief; a rascal or scoundrel.
   • 1999, Steve Stern, The Wedding Jester, Graywolf Press, page 86,

     The streets swarmed with hucksters, ganefs, and handkerchief girls who solicited in the shadows of buildings draped in black bunting.

   • 2011, Eric Dezenhall, The Devil Himself, St. Martin's Press (Thomas Dunne Books), page 12,

     I would love to have a little inside knowledge that my grandfather's friends took down a president, but the reality is an endless procession of desperate little ganefs—and most of them are very small—trying to stay one step ahead of cops in suits from Sy Syms.

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• Fagen, Fegan