Now a generally playful and affectionate term indicating dishevelment, ragamuffin came into existence in the mid-14th century with a more punishing connotation. Derived in part from the word ragged, then used to refer to the devil’s shaggy appearance, it has also historically been used to describe a lazy and worthless, or beggarly individual. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable provides a helpful and quirky explanation for the word: “A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a 'regular muff'; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.”