'ribald' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'ribald', where the exact root is uncertain but it carried the sense of a coarse or lewd person.

'ribald' appears in Medieval Latin as 'ribaldus' and in Old French as 'ribald' before entering Middle English as 'ribald' and becoming the modern English word 'ribald'.

Initially it referred chiefly to 'a coarse or lewd person', but over time it broadened to describe speech, jokes, or behavior that are 'coarse, lewd, or humorously indecent'.