- rake (n.1)
- "toothed tool for drawing or scraping things together," Old English raca "rake," earlier ræce, from Proto-Germanic *rak- "gather, heap up" (source also of Old Norse reka "spade, shovel," Old High German rehho, German Rechen "a rake," Gothic rikan "to heap up, collect"), from PIE *reg- (1) "move in a straight line" (source also of Greek oregein "to reach, stretch out," Latin regere "direct, rule; keep straight, guide;" see regal), perhaps via its action, or via the notion of "implement with straight pieces of wood" [Watkins].
- rake (n.2)
- "debauchee; idle, dissolute person," 1650s, shortening of rakehell. Hogarth's "Rake's Progress" engravings were published in 1735.
- rake (v.)
- mid-13c., "clear (rubbish, grass, etc.) by raking; gather (grain) by raking," from rake (n.1), or from a lost Old English verb related to it, or from a similar Scandinavian source (compare Swedish raka, Danish rage "rake"). Of gunfire from 1630s. Related: Raked; raking. To rake in money or something like it is from 1580s.
