Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RAG, n. [Sax. hracod, torn, ragged; racian, to rake; Dan. rager, to rake; ragerie, old clothes; Sw. raka, to shave, ragg, rough hair; Gr. ῥακος, a torn garment, ῥακοω, to tear, ῥαγας, a rupture, a rock, a crag; ῥαγοω, to tear asunder; W. rhwygaw, to rend; Arm. roga, id. The Spanish has the word in the compounds andrajo, a rag, andrajoso, rugged; It. straccio, a rent, a rag; stracciare, to tear; Ar. خَرَقَ charaka or garaka, to tear. Class Rg, No. 34.]

1. Any piece of cloth torn from the rest; a tattered cloth torn or worn till its texture is destroyed. Linen and cotton rags are the chief materials of paper.
2. Garments worn out; proverbially, mean dress. Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rage. – Prov. xxiii. And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. – Dryden.
3. A fragment of dress. – Hudibras.