[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

tatterdemalion \tat`terdemal"ion\, n. tatter + of.
   desmaillier to break the meshes of, to tear: cf. of. maillon
   long clothes, swadding clothes, f. maillot. see tatter, and
   mail armor.
   a ragged fellow; a ragamuffin. --l'estrange.
   1913 webster
see also:
tatter mail 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

tatterdemalion
     adj 1: worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing; "a man
            in a tattered shirt"; "the tattered flag"; "tied up in
            tattered brown paper"; "a tattered barefoot boy"; "a
            tatterdemalion prince" syn: tattered
     2: in deplorable condition; "a street of bedraggled tenements";
        "a broken-down fence"; "a ramshackle old pier"; "a
        tumble-down shack" syn: bedraggled, broken-down, dilapidated,
         ramshackle, tumble-down, unsound
     n : a dirty shabbily clothed urchin syn: ragamuffin
see also:
tattered bedraggled broken-down dilapidated ramshackle tumble-down 
unsound ragamuffin 

Tatterdemalion >> T Words
Tatterdemalion, definition of term: Tatterdemalion
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