Randy - Etymology, Origin & Meaning (2025)

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randy(adj.)

1690s, "aggressive, boisterous," a Scottish word of uncertain origin, probably from rand "to rave," an obsolete variant of rant (v.). "In early use always of beggars, and probably implying vagrant habits as well as rude behavior. Now applied only to women" [OED]. The sense of "lewd, lustful, noisily wanton" is attested by 1847. Compare Scottish and northern English randy (n.) "a sturdy beggar or vagrant" (of males); "a noisy hoyden, a rude, romping girl." Related: Randiness.

also from 1690s

Entries linking to randy

rant(v.)

c. 1600, "to be jovial and boisterous," also "to talk bombastically," from Dutch randten (earlier ranten) "talk foolishly, rave," of unknown origin (compare German rantzen "to frolic, spring about," dialectal rant "noise, uproar"). Related: Ranted; ranting. Ranters as the name of an antinomian sect which arose in England c. 1645 is attested from 1651; applied 1823 to Primitive Methodists. A 1700 slang dictionary has rantipole "a rude wild Boy or Girl" (also as a verb and adjective); to ride rantipole meant "The woman uppermost in the amorous congress" [Grose].

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Trends of randy

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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rand

1839 in South African English, rant, "rocky ridge overlooking a river valley," from Afrikaans, from Dutch rand "edge, margin, rim," from Proto-Germanic *randaz "edge, rim, crust" (source also of Old English rand "brink, bank," Old High German rant "border or rim of a shield," Ger

picnic

1748 (in Chesterfield's "Letters"), but the thing itself apparently was rare before c. 1800 as an English institution [OED]; it originally meant "a fashionable social affair (not necessarily out of doors) in which every partaker contributed something to the general table;" from F

bozo

1920, "muscular low-I.Q. male," originally appearing in boxing slang (compare bimbo). Perhaps from Spanish bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly." It was also a proper name of Eastern European origin. By 1913 a vaudeville actor named Bob A

calendar

c. 1200, calender, "the year as divided systematically into days and months;" mid-14c. as "table showing divisions of the year;" from Old French calendier "list, register," from Latin calendarium "account book," from calendae/kalendae "the calends" the first day of the Roman mont

sustain

late 13c., sustenen, transitive, "provide the necessities of life to;" by early 14c. as "give support to (an effort or cause); also in physical senses, "keep from falling or sinking, hold up or upright;" also "give assistance to; keep (a quarrel, etc.) going." It is from the stem

oblivion

late 14c., oblivioun, "state or fact of forgetting, forgetfulness, loss of memory," from Old French oblivion (13c.) and directly from Latin oblivionem (nominative oblivio) "forgetfulness; a being forgotten," from oblivisci (past participle oblitus) "forget," which is of uncertain

keel

"lowest and principal timber of a ship or boat," mid-14c., probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse kjölr "keel," Danish kjøl, Swedish köl), which according to Watkins is from Proto-Germanic *gwele- (3) "to swallow" (see gullet). OED and Middle English Compendium sa

seedy

mid-15c., sēdi, "fruitful, abundant" (Of bounteuousnesse þat hous was ful sedy), from seed (n.) + -y (2). From 1570s as "abounding in seeds." The modern meaning "shabby, no longer fresh or new" is attested by 1725, slang, originally especially "poor, out of money;" probably in re

worry

c. 1300, wirien, "to slay, kill or injure by biting and shaking the throat" (as a dog or wolf does), from Old English wyrgan "to strangle," from Proto-Germanic *wurgjan (source also of Middle Dutch worghen, Dutch worgen, Old High German wurgen, German würgen "to strangle," Old No

confer

1530s, "examine by comparison;" 1540s (intransitive) "consult together on some special subject;" 1560s, "bestow as a gift or permanent possession," from Old French conférer (14c.) "to give; to converse; to compare," from Latin conferre "to bring together," figuratively "to compar

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Dictionary entries near randy

rand
Randal
Randolph
random
randomize
randy
rang
range
ranger
rangy
rank

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