# raffle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹæfl̩/ · frequency rank #22,782

## Definitions
1. A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.
2. A game of dice in which the player who throws three of the same number wins all the stakes.
3. The system by which cases are assigned to judges in multi-sala courts.

## Etymology
From Middle English rafle, from Old French rafle, raffle (“dice game", also "plundering”), from rafler (“to snatch, seize, carry off”), from Frankish *raffolōn, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrēpōną (“to scratch, touch, pluck out, snatch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreb(h)-, *(s)kerb(h)- (“to turn, bend, shrink”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Middle Dutch raffel (“dice game”), German raffen (“to snatch away, sweep off”), Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat, attack”).

## Easily confused with
- **rifle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-rifle)
- **rattle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-rattle)
- **Randle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-randle)
- **ramble** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-ramble)
- **ruffle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-ruffle)
- **ruffled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-ruffled)
- **Raffles** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffle-vs-raffles)
- **Rafe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rafe-vs-raffle)
- **raff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raff-vs-raffle)
- **rabble** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rabble-vs-raffle)
- **Raffaele** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raffaele-vs-raffle)

## Common misspellings (7)
`arffle`, `raffel`, `rafflle`, `rafle`, `raflfe`, `rfafle`, `rraffle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/raffle