different between rotten vs ragged

English

Etymology

From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rut?n? (“to rot”). More at rot.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???tn?/, [????n?]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???tn?/
• Rhymes: -?t?n

Adjective

rotten (comparative rottener or more rotten, superlative rottenest or most rotten)

1. Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents.

   If you leave a bin unattended for a few weeks, the rubbish inside will turn rotten.

   • 1596-99?, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, scene iii:

     Antonio: Mark you this, Bassanio, / The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. / An evil soul producing holy witness / Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, / A goodly apple rotten at the heart. / O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

2. In a state of decay.

   The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten.

   His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten.

3. Cruel, mean or immoral.

   That man is a rotten father.

   This rotten policy will create more injustice in this country.

4. Bad or terrible.

   Why is the weather always rotten in this city?

   It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.

   She has the flu and feels rotten.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which “rotten” is often applied: wood, food, egg, meat, fruit, tomato, apple, banana, milk, vegetable, stuff, tooth, smell, person, kid, bastard, scoundrel, weather.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

rotten (comparative more rotten, superlative most rotten)

1. To an extreme degree.

   That kid is spoilt rotten.

   The girls fancy him something rotten.

Anagrams

• Trento, torent

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?r?t?(n)/
• Rhymes: -?t?n

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch rotten, reformed from earlier roten, from Old Dutch *roton, from Proto-Germanic *rut?n?.

Verb

rotten

1. To rot, to go bad, to decay.

Inflection

Derived terms

• doorrotten
• verrotten
• wegrotten

Etymology 2

Noun

rotten

1. Plural form of rot

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?r?t?n/, [???t?n], [???tn?]
• Hyphenation: rot?ten

Etymology 1

From Middle High German roten, derived from rote (whence modern Rotte), from Old French rote, from Latin rupta.

Verb

rotten (weak, third-person singular present rottet, past tense rottete, past participle gerottet, auxiliary haben)

1. (obsolete) To form into a gang, to rout, to squad.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• zusammenrotten (remains common)

Etymology 2

From Middle High German roten, roden, from Proto-Germanic *rud?n?.

Verb

rotten (weak, third-person singular present rottet, past tense rottete, past participle gerottet, auxiliary haben)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of roden (“to clear woods, to make arable”)

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ausrotten (remains common)

Etymology 3

From Middle Low German rotten, alteration (perhaps intensivation) of older r?ten, from Old Saxon rot?n, from Proto-Germanic *rut?n?.

Verb

rotten (weak, third-person singular present rottet, past tense rottete, past participle gerottet, auxiliary haben)

1. To rot, to decay.

Conjugation

Usage notes

• As a simplex chiefly with certain adverbs, like vor sich hin. More common in compounds.

Synonyms

• faulen
• verfaulen

Derived terms

• dahinrotten
• verrotten

Middle English

Verb

rotten

1. Alternative form of roten (“to rot”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• rotta f

Noun

rotten m

1. definite masculine singular of rotte: rat (rodent)

West Frisian

Noun

rotten

1. plural of rôt

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English ragged, from North Germanic. Compare with Old Norse r?gvaðr (“tufted”) and Norwegian ragget (“shaggy”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?g'?d, IPA^(key): /??æ??d/

Adjective

ragged (comparative more ragged, superlative most ragged)

1. In tatters, having the texture broken.

   a ragged coat

   a ragged sail

2. Having rough edges; jagged or uneven

   ragged rocks

3. Harsh-sounding; having an unpleasant noise
   • 1912, David Herbert Lawrence, The Trespasser, Chapter 12

     There was a ragged noise of bleating from the flock penned in a corner of the yard. Two red-armed men seized a sheep, hauled it to a large bath that stood in the middle of the yard, and there held it, more or less in the bath, whilst a third man baled a dirty yellow liquid over its body.

4. Wearing tattered clothes.

   a ragged fellow

5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.
   • 1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records:

     Seeking out the poorer quarters
     Where the ragged people go

6. Faulty; lacking in skill, reliability, or organization.
7. (music) performed in a syncopated manner, especially in ragtime.
8. (computing) Of a data structure: having uneven levels.

   a ragged hierarchy

   a ragged array, consisting of a number of arrays of varying size

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From rag

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?gd, IPA^(key): /?æ?d/

Verb

ragged

1. simple past tense and past participle of rag

Anagrams

• Dagger, dagger, dragge

Middle English

Alternative forms

• raggid, ragget, raggede, raggyd, ragyd, reaggeth, raged, raggit

Etymology

From Old Norse raggaðr; equivalent to and reinforced by ragge +? -ed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ra?id/

Adjective

ragged

1. ragged, raggy, raglike
2. shaggy, furry
3. rough, jagged, spiked

Descendants

• English: ragged
• Scots: raggit

References

• “ragged(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.