English · Slang Historical

raffs

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

An appellation given by the gownsmen of the university of Oxford to the inhabitants of that place.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tên gọi của sinh viên Oxford dùng để chỉ cư dân địa phương

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “raffs” mean?

An appellation given by the gownsmen of the university of Oxford to the inhabitants of that place.

Is “raffs” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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