† riff and raffadv.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French rif et raf one and all, everyone, everything (beginning of the 14th cent.; of uncertain origin (the second element shows et ‘and’)), with substitution of and conj.¹ for et . Compare in the same sense Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French rifraf , ryfraf riff-raff n.¹ and perhaps also Middle French, French regional (Walloon) rif-raf quickly and carelessly (see raff n.¹).The origin of the French expressions rif et raf and rifraf , ryfraf is uncertain, and it is unclear whether the variant with et or the one without was the original form. Parallels exist in several languages: compare e.g. Middle Dutch rijf ende raf everything or everyone without distinction (1444), Spanish rifirrafe exchange of words (1726–39), Italian de riffa e de raffa (a1632), di riffa o di raffa one way or another (1872), although the relationship between these and the French forms is unclear. A reduplicative origin seems plausible (compare e.g. mishmash n.), but if this is the case, it is uncertain which element should be considered primary and which formed from it by variation of the vowel. It has been suggested that the first element may ultimately be of Germanic origin (perhaps compare Old High German riffilōn , riffilōn , glossing classical Latin serrāre to saw: see ripple v.¹); with raf compare raff n.³ and also raff n.¹ and discussion at that entry. Compare also riff-raff n.¹, riff-raff n.²