Etymology

rasp

R1A1S1P3

Today it means: A coarse file or filelike tool, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file. Full definition →

Middle English raspen ← Old French rasper ← Vulgar Latin *raspāre
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

rasp · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)ker-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kreb /*(s)krebʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*hrepsaną /*hrepspaną
  4. Proto-Germanic*hrespaną
  5. Proto-Germanic*hraspōną
  6. Frankish*hraspōn
  7. Vulgar Latin*raspāre
  8. Old Frenchrasper
  9. Middle Englishraspen
  10. English todayrasp

Inherited from Middle English raspen (“to scratch, scrape”), borrowed from Old French rasper (“to grate, scratch”), from Vulgar Latin *raspāre (“to scrape; to scratch”), borrowed from Frankish *hraspōn (“to rasp or grate”), from Proto-Germanic *hraspōną (same meaning, plus “to steal”), from *hrespaną (“to tear, rip; to plunder”). Compare Old High German raspōn (“to gather, rake”), Old English ġehrespan (“to plunder”). The noun is from Middle French raspe (whence Modern French râpe), deverbal of rasper, from Old French rasper (see above).

rasp · noun2

Probably from earlier raspis (“raspberry”), mistaken as a plural. Further origin unknown.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.