Raffs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Loose, tangled fibers or clumps extracted from flax or hemp during the process of separating usable fibers
2. Coarse remnants or debris left after processing plant material like flax, often appearing as irregular, stringy masses
3. Raw, fibrous material obtained as a byproduct in the preparation of plants for textile production, typically unrefined and rough in texture

Etymology: "Raffs" is simply the plural of "raff," a noun for scraps or refuse, and in its specific sense, loose plant fibre waste. The noun "raff" came into Middle English as "raf," borrowed from Old French "raffer," which meant to snatch or carry off. Behind that French verb lies a Germanic root, and German still has "raffen," meaning to snatch or grab greedily, which shows the same sense surviving on the other side of the Rhine. The connection to scrap and leftovers makes sense once you see the verb's core idea: something snatched up and gathered from the rest. The same family of sounds is also behind "rap," meaning to snatch, and "rip," meaning to tear. "Riffraff," the word for the rabble, shares the same root, and the notion of gathered-up odds and ends runs through all of them.

Synonyms: riffraff, rabble, mob, commoners, plebeians

Antonyms: elite, aristocracy, upper class, nobility, gentry