raca¹

Meaning

1. EcclesiasticalLatinidiot!, putz!
   4th C. CE, Saint Jerome, Vulgate, Matthew 5:22And whoever says to his brother, idiot!, shall be liable to answer to the council.
   397 CE, Tyrannius Rufinus (translator), Instituta Monachorum, question 145, original author: Basil of Caesarea, in Patrologia Latina (volume 103), Jacques-Paul Migne (editor), Paris 1851, column 538What is raca? The answer: A provincial, that is, a pagan word used for example as a mild insult, which is usually said to servants and to those who rely on you.

Origins

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ῥακά (rhaká), from Aramaic רֵיקָא (rēqā, “worthless person”) or Classical Syriac ܪܝܩܐ (rēqā, “vanity”).

Meaning

1. EcclesiasticalLatinindeclinablemetonymicallyneuterthe act of calling someone ‘raca’.
   Dē eō autem quod nīteris approbāre, convīcium et homicīdium, raca et adulterium, et ōtiōsum sermōnem, et impietātem ūnō suppliciō repēnsārī, […]As to the fact that you argue that an insult and a murder, calling somebody a putz and adultery, idle talk and impiety should be rewarded with the same punishment, […]c. 393 CE, Saint Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.31, in Patrologia Latina (volume 23), Jacques-Paul Migne (editor), Paris 1883, column 342

Origins

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ῥακά (rhaká), from Aramaic רֵיקָא (rēqā, “worthless person”) or Classical Syriac ܪܝܩܐ (rēqā, “vanity”).