raffles

¹

[raf-uhlz]

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. a gentlemanly burglar, amateur housebreaker, or the like.

Raffles

²

[raf-uhlz]

noun

1. Sir Thomas Stamford, 1781–1826, English colonial administrator in the East Indies.

Raffles

/ ˈræfəlz /

noun

1. Sir Thomas Stamford . 1781–1826, British colonial administrator: founded Singapore (1819) as a station for the British East India Company

Word History and Origins

Origin of Raffles¹

1925–30; after Raffles, hero of The Amateur Cracksman, by E. W. Hornung (1866–1921), English novelist