rake no(2)
‘a dissolute or immoral person, scoundrel’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
E. rack < a shortening of rakehell < rake and hell < O.E. raca ‘rake’ < Proto-G. rak- ‘gather, heap up’ < ray < reg- < Tamil aracaṉ
rake no(2)
English words derived from Tamil aracaṉ connoting 'rule'