Etymology
Advertisement

rake (n.1)

"toothed tool for drawing or scraping things together," Old English raca "rake," earlier ræce, from Proto-Germanic *rak- "gather, heap up" (source also of Old Norse reka "spade, shovel," Old High German rehho, German Rechen "a rake," Gothic rikan "to heap up, collect"), from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line," thus "to lead, rule" (source also of Greek oregein "to reach, stretch out," Latin regere "direct, rule; keep straight, guide"). The implement is so called perhaps via its action, or via the notion of "implement with straight pieces of wood" [Watkins].

rake (n.2)

"debauchee, libertine; idle, dissolute person; one who goes about in search of vicious pleasure," 1650s, shortening of rakehell. Hogarth's "Rake's Progress" engravings were published in 1735. Generally of men but also used by 1712 of women of similar character.

also from 1650s

rake (v.)

mid-13c., raken, "clear (rubbish, grass, etc.) by raking; gather (grain) by raking," from rake (n.1), or from a lost Old English verb *racian, or from a similar Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse raka, Swedish raka, Danish rage "rake"). Of gunfire "to enfilade," from 1630s. Related: Raked; raking. To rake in money or something like it is from 1580s.

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to rake

rakehell (n.)

"wicked, dissolute wretch; thorough rascal," 1550s (1540s as an adjective), possibly an alteration (by association with rake (n.1) and Hell) of Middle English rakel (adj.) "hasty, rash, headstrong," which is probably from raken "to go, proceed," from Old English racian "to go forward, move, hasten," a word of unknown origin. But the verbal phrase rake Hell "go over (Hell) thoroughly" is attested by 1540s. Compare rakeshame (n.) "one who lives shamefully" (1590s).

muck-raker (n.)

also muckraker, c. 1600, "one who rakes muck" (earliest use is in a figurative sense: "a miser"), from muck-rake "rake for scraping muck or filth" (mid-14c.), from muck (n.) + rake (n.). The figurative meaning "one who inquires into and publishes scandal and allegations of corruption among political and business leaders" was popularized 1906 in speech by President Theodore Roosevelt, in reference to the "man ... with a Muckrake in his hand" in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" (1684) who seeks worldly gain by raking filth.

The men with the muck-rakes are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck. [T. Roosevelt, quoted in "Cincinnati Enquirer," April 15, 1906.]

Muck-rake (n.) in sense "person who hunts scandal" is attested from 1872. To muck-rake (v.) in the literal sense is from 1879; figuratively from 1910. Related: Muck-raking.

Advertisement

Trends of rake

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

updated on April 13, 2021

Advertisement
Remove ads >
Advertisement

Trending words

Dictionary entries near rake

raison d'etat

raison d'etre

raisonne

raj

rajah

rake

rakehell

rakish

Raleigh

rally

Ralph