racaille

French

FWOTD – 11 October 2014

Alternative forms

• caillera, kaïra (Verlan)

Etymology

Inherited from Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasicō (“to scrape”). Cognate with English rascal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁa.kaj/ ~ /ʁa.kɑj/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

racaille f (plural racailles)

1. (derogatory) people, mainly young, who engage in antisocial behaviour; rabble, riffraff; rascals
   • 2005, a resident of an estate hit by rioting and the Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy:

     resident: Monsieur Sarkozy, est-ce que vous pouvez nous débarrasser de cette racaille ?
     Sarkozy: Vous voulez qu'on vous débarrasse de cette racaille, on va le faire.

     resident: Mr. Sarkozy, can you get rid of this rabble for us?
     Sarkozy: You want us to get rid of this rabble? We're on the case.

   Synonym: fripouille

Further reading

• “racaille”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “racaille” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.

Anagrams

• caillera