scamp

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a mischievous rascal, often used affectionately of a child

   The little scamp had hidden everyone's shoes before dinner.

Simplified etymology

Scamp probably derives from early Dutch schampen, “slip away.” In the 18th century a scamp was a highwayman. During the 19th century this sense moderated to “swindler” or “cheat,” a derogatory use that survives in Caribbean English; nowadays the word is most often applied to children.

From an obsolete verb scamp ('to roam, decamp'), probably from Old North French escamper ('to flee, decamp'), from Latin ex- ('out') + campus ('field, battlefield').

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