An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/raffen

by Friedrich Kluge

raffen, verb, ‘to snatch, carry off suddenly,’ from Middle High German raffen, Old High German *raffôn (by chance not recorded), ‘to pluck, pull out, snatch away’; corresponding to Low German and Dutch rapen, ‘to gather hastily.’ English to raff is derived from French raffer, which, like Italian arraffare, is borrowed from High German; on the other hand, English to rap is primitively allied to High German raffen. Middle High German raspôn (for rafspôn), Middle High German raspen, ‘to collect hastily,’ and Italian arrappare, ‘to carry off,’ are also connected with the Teutonic root hrap.