rogue

views updated

rogue one of a class of vagrants XVI; unprincipled man; mischievous person XVI; (rendering Sinhalese horā, sorā :- Skr. corá- thief) savage elephant living apart from the herd XIX. orig. one of the numerous canting words that are recorded from mid-XVI; perh. based on †roger begging vagabond pretending to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge (XVI), prob. f. L. rogāre ask, beg + -ER1.
Hence roguery, roguish XVI.

More From encyclopedia.com