Show Search Results Show Browse

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1835

[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

RUFFIE, n.2 Also ruffy; roughy. A cant or slang term for the Devil (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ayr. 1968). Also Auld Roughy.Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Trad. (1887) 50:
He [the Devil] was familiarly known at Parson Leys by the appellation of “Auld Roughy”.

[O.Sc. Ruffy, a name for a devil or fiend, a.1500, a reduced or variant form of Mid. or cant Eng. ruffin, id., also in cant vocab.]

You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.

"Ruffie n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 4 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/ruffie_n2>

22490

snd

Hide Advanced Search

Browse SND:

    Loading...

Share: