Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RIB'ALD, n. [Fr. ribaud; It. ribaldo, a rogue, and as an adjective, poor, beggarly; Arm. ribaud, a fornicator. Qu. D. rabout, rabauw, a rogue or rascal. According to the Italian, this word is a compound of ri or re, and baldo, bold, or Sp. baldio, idle, lazy, vagrant, untilled. But the real composition of the word is not ascertained.]

A low, vulgar, brutal wretch; a lewd fellow. – Shak. Spenser. Pope.