Meanings
- Southern USchiefly Midland USThe Devil.
“Lisieux is a little town in Normandy,” she said. “I was there a few days with your father, one summer, long ago. It’s a country full of old stories, folklore, and traditions; and the people still believe in the Old Scratch pretty literally. […]”
1913, Booth Tarkington, The Flirt, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLCSynonyms: Old Ned, Old Nick, Old Serpent, Aduwallah, Adversary, Al-Shaytaan, Antichrist, archfiend
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe Devil.
Origin
- Old Norseskratti“a type of demon”
- Middle Englishscrat
- EnglishOld Scratch
Probably an alteration of scrat, from Middle English scrat, skratt, scratte, ultimately from Old Norse skratti (“a type of demon”).
More words from Middle English, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Old Scratch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Old%20Scratch
“Old Scratch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Old%20Scratch. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Old Scratch,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Old%20Scratch.
Source: Old Scratch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.