The adjective is derived from Middle Englishrash, rasch(“hasty, headstrong, rash”)[and other forms],[1] probably from Old English*ræsċ(“rash”) (found in derivatives such as ræsċan(“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”), ræsċettan(“to crackle, sparkle”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic*rask, *raskī, *rasku, from Proto-Germanic*raskaz, *raskuz, *raþskaz, *raþskuz(“rash; rapid”), from Proto-Indo-European*Hreth₂-(“to run, roll”). The Middle English word was probably influenced by the cognates listed below.[2]
[…]Eusebius doth report that Ireneus dyd reprooue Victor byshop of Rome for his rash sentēce in excōmunicating the Churches of Grece, concerning the obseruation of the feast of Easter.
For ſitting in his [Marcus Junius Brutus's] tent, penſive and troubled vvith the horrour of his raſh act, it vvas not hard for him, ſlumbering in the cold, to dream of that vvhich moſt affrighted him;[…]
[T]hrough the raſh adventure and fool-hardineſs of ſome fevv, an overture only made, and ſome advantage got of performing a great piece of ſervice and vvorthy exploit.
So ſhould an ideot vvhile at large he ſtrays, / Find the ſvveet lyre on vvhich an artiſt plays, / VVith raſh and aukvvard force the chords he ſhakes, / And grins vvith vvonder at the jar he makes;[…]
Take then no vow at random: ta'en, with faith / Preserve it; yet not bent, as Jephthah once, / Blindly to execute a rash resolve, / Whom better it had suited to exclaim, / 'I have done ill,' than to redeem his pledge / By doing worse:[…]
Soft Gooddie Sheepe (then ſaid the Foxe) not ſoe:/ Vnto the King ſo raſh ye may not goe, / He is vvith greater matter buſied, / Than a Lambe, or the Lambes ovvne mothers hed.
Probably from Old Frenchrasche, rache(“skin eruption, rash; (specifically) scabies, scurf”)(obsolete), from racher(“to scrape; to scratch”) (although this is only directly attested later than the noun), from Vulgar Latin*rāsicāre(“to scrape”), from Latinrāsus(“scraped, scratched; shaved”), the perfectpassiveparticiple of rādō(“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”),[4] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European*reh₁d-(“to scrape, scratch; to gnaw”). Doublet of rase and raze.
cognates
Frenchrash, rach(“skin eruption, rash”)(rare) (borrowed from English rash)
Italianrasca, raschia(“skin eruption like scabies”)(obsolete) (both borrowed from Old Occitan)
Wet through and through: with her feet squelching and squashing in her shoes whenever she moved; with a rash of rain upon her classical visage;[…]
1964 July, “News and Comment: The Broad Street-Richmond line”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
Until the recent rash of North London line maps appeared on station billboards in the London area of BR, the service undoubtedly suffered from meagre and ineffectual publicity.
Science has tried and failed to come to a consensus about the hygienic superiority of one product over the other. Even so, the paper towel industry has funded or promoted a rash of studies claiming that hand dryers turn bathrooms into mosh pits of pathogens.
Uncertain; the word is similar to other words from Germanic or Romance languages listed in the table below, but the connection between the English word and those words is unclear. One suggestion is that they ultimately derive from the town of Arras in France, known for its cloth and wool industries (whence arras(“tapestry, wall hanging”)); compare GermanRasch(“lightly woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (said to be from Middle High Germanarrasch(“arras”), and ultimately from the name of the town), and the obsolete names for the fabric, Catalandrap de arraz, drap d'Arraç, Italianpaño de ras(literally “cloth of Arras”). The Oxford English Dictionary states that even if rash did not originally derive from Arras, the name of the town could have influenced the English word.[5]
possible cognates
Catalanras(“smooth fabric woven from silk”) (also raç(obsolete))
Danishrask(“thin, coarse woollen cloth usually made from worsted”) (also rasch(obsolete), derived from German)
Dutchras(“woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (also rasch(obsolete, rare), rass(obsolete))
p.1597, J[ohn] Donne, “[Satyres]Satyre IIII”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London:[…] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot,[…], published 1633, →OCLC, page 338:
Sleeveleſſe his jerkin vvas, and it had beene / Velvet, but 'tvvas novv (ſo much ground vvas ſeene) / Become Tufftaffatie; and our children ſhall / See it plaine Raſhe avvhile, or nought at all.
Translations
fabric with a smooth texture woven from silk, worsted, or a mixture of the two
Look on thoſe grave plodding fellovvs, […] I'll undertake three parts of four are going to their Courtezans. I tell thee, Jack, the vvhiſking of a Silk-Govvn, and the raſh of a Tabby-Pettycoat, are as comfortable ſounds to one of theſe rich Citizens, as the chink of their Pieces of Eight.
Etymology 5
From Late Middle Englishrashen, rassh(“to hasten, hurry, rush”)[and other forms],[7] from Old Englishræscan(“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”);[8] see further at etymology 1.
Reg[an]. VVherefore to Douer ſir?/Gloſt[er, i.e., Gloucester]. Becauſe I vvould not ſee thy cruell nayles / Pluck out his poore old eyes, nor thy fierce ſiſter / In his aurynted fleſh raſh boriſh phangs, […]
The corresponding phrase in the First Folio (1623), page 300, is: “In his Annointed fleſh, ſticke boariſh phangs.”
Fair lordes sayd syre Launcelot leue your noyse and your rassyng and I shalle sette open this dore and thenne may ye doo with me what it lyketh yow. "Fair lords, said Sir Launcelot, leave your noise and your rashing, and I shall set open this door, and then may ye do with me what it liketh you."
Retur[n]e to the places of Peter, the one in his firſt epiſtle, the other in the latter: and ſo be you contented with this preſent anſvver raſhed up in haſte.
Probably an aphetic form of arace(“to tear up by the roots; to draw away”)(obsolete), from Middle Englisharacen(“to remove (something) by force, pluck or pull out, tear out; to grab; to lacerate; to flay or skin (an animal); to erase, obliterate”)[and other forms], from Old Frencharacer, arachier(“to pull off (by physical force)”)[and other forms] (whence Anglo-Normanracher, aracher(“to pluck out, pull out”); modern Frencharracher(“to pull up, tear out, uproot; to extract, take out (a tooth); to peel, pull off, rip off; to buy, snap up; to fight over; to tear (oneself) away from”)),[9][10] a variant of esrachier(“to eradicate, get rid of”), from Latinexrādīcāre, ērādīcāre, the presentactiveinfinitive of ērādīcō(“to root out; to annihilate, extirpate”), from ē- (a variant of ex-(prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + rādīx(“root of a plant”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European*wréh₂ds(“root”)) + -ō(suffix forming regular first-conjugationverbs).
There Marinell great deeds of armes did ſhevv;/ And through the thickeſt like a Lyon flevv, /Raſhing off helmes, and ryuing plates a ſonder, / That euery one his daunger did eſchevv.
1697, Virgil, “The Ninth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…], London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…], →OCLC, page 496, lines 1094–1095:
His Creſt is raſh'd away; his ample Shield / Is falſify'd and round with Jav'lins fill'd.
Etymology 7
Probably a variant of race, raze(“to demolish; to destroy, obliterate; to scrape as if with a razor”), possibly modelled after rash (etymology 5 or etymology 6).[11]Raze is derived from Middle Englishrasen, racen, rase(“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figuratively) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”)[and other forms],[12] from Anglo-Normanraser, rasere, rasser, Middle French, Old Frenchraser(“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin*raso(“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latinrāsus(“scraped; shaved”); see further at etymology 2.
And dravving both their ſvvords vvith rage extreme, / Like tvvo mad maſtiffes each on other flevv, / And ſhields did ſhare, & mailes did raſh, and helmes did hevv.
[N]ovv he, comes violently on, and vvithall advancing his Rapier to ſtrike, […] Sir, I miſt my purpoſe in his arme, raſht his doublet ſleeue, ran him cloſe by the left cheeke, and through his haire:[…]