Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snout, a long, hairless tail, and a body length greater than about 12 cm, or 5 inches. · A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus. · A person who is known for betrayal. · An informant or snitch.
To hunt or kill rats. · To betray a political party, cause or principle; to betray someone, to desert a person or thing. · To work as a scab, going against trade union policies. · To backcomb (hair).
From Middle English raat, rat, ratt, ratte, rotte, from Old English ræt, rætt, from Proto-West Germanic *ratt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, *rattō (“rat”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to gnaw, scrape, scratch”). However, the rat may have been unknown in Northern Europe in antiquity, and the Proto-Germanic word may have referred to a different animal; see *rattaz for more. Attestation of this family of words begins in the 12th century. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian root (“rat”), Saterland Frisian Rotte (“rat”), West Frisian rôt (“rat”), Dutch rat, rot (“rat”), German Ratte (“rat”), Luxembourgish Rat (“rat”), Vilamovian rot, rott (“rat”), Yiddish ראַץ (rats, “rat”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rotte (“rat”), Faroese and Icelandic rotta (“rat”), Norwegian Nynorsk rotta, rotte, røtte (“rat”), Swedish råtta (“rat”), Latin rattus, ratus (“rat”) (whence Asturian ratu (“mouse”), Catalan rata (“rat”), French rat (“rat”), Italian ratto (“rat”), Portuguese rato (“rat”), Spanish rata (“rat”), rato (“male rat”)); also Latin rōdō (“to bite, gnaw, nibble; to backbite, disparage, slander”), Sanskrit रदति (radati, “to scrape, scratch; to cut path, pave; to lead river into a channel; to bestow, convey”). Some of the Germanic cognates show considerable consonant variation, e.g. Middle Low German ratte, radde; Middle High German rate, ratte, ratze. The irregularity may be symptomatic of a late dispersal of the word, although Kroonen accounts for it with a Proto-Germanic stem *raþō nom., *ruttaz gen., showing both ablaut and a Kluge's law alternation, with the variation arising from varying remodellings in the descendants. Kroonen states that this requires a Proto-Indo-European etymon in final *t and is incompatible with the usual derivation from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*Hreh₃d-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionraatenm
- Inherited-form mentionrætang
- Inherited-form mention*rattgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*rattazgem-pro
- Derivation mention*Hreh₃d-ine-pro · to gnaw, scrape, scratch
- Cognate mentionrootfrr · rat
- Cognate mentionRottestq · rat
- Cognate mentionrôtfy · rat
- Cognate mentionratnl
- Cognate mentionRattede · rat
- Cognate mentionRatlb · rat
- Cognate mentionrotwym
- Cognate mentionראַץyi · rat
- Cognate mentionrottann
- Cognate mentionråttasv · rat
- Cognate mentionrattusla
- Cognate mentionratuast · mouse
- Cognate mentionrataca · rat
- Cognate mentionratfr · rat
- Cognate mentionrattoit · rat
- Cognate mentionratopt · rat
- Cognate mentionrataes · rat
- Cognate mentionrōdōla · to bite, gnaw, nibble; to backbite, disparage, slander
- Cognate mentionरदतिsa · to scrape, scratch; to cut path, pave; to lead river into a channel; to bestow, convey
- Cognate mentionrattegml
- Cognate mentionrategmh
- Derivation mention*Hreh₃d-ine-pro · to scrape, scratch, gnaw
This page abbreviates 7 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*Hreh₃d-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "raat"
},
"expansion": "Middle English raat"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "ræt"
},
"expansion": "Old English ræt"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*ratt"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *ratt"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*rattaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *rattaz"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*Hreh₃d-",
"t": "to gnaw, scrape, scratch"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to gnaw, scrape, scratch”)"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "root",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian root (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Rotte",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Rotte (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "rôt",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian rôt (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Dutch rat"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Ratte",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "German Ratte (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lb",
"2": "Rat",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Luxembourgish Rat (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "wym",
"2": "rot"
},
"expansion": "Vilamovian rot"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "yi",
"2": "ראַץ",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Yiddish ראַץ (rats, “rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb",
"2": "rotte",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rotte (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo,is",
"2": "rotta",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic rotta (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "rotta"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk rotta"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "råtta",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Swedish råtta (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "rattus"
},
"expansion": "Latin rattus"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ast",
"2": "ratu",
"t": "mouse"
},
"expansion": "Asturian ratu (“mouse”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ca",
"2": "rata",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Catalan rata (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "rat",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "French rat (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "it",
"2": "ratto",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Italian ratto (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pt",
"2": "rato",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Portuguese rato (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "es",
"2": "rata",
"t": "rat"
},
"expansion": "Spanish rata (“rat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "rōdō",
"t": "to bite, gnaw, nibble; to backbite, disparage, slander"
},
"expansion": "Latin rōdō (“to bite, gnaw, nibble; to backbite, disparage, slander”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sa",
"2": "रदति",
"t": "to scrape, scratch; to cut path, pave; to lead river into a channel; to bestow, convey"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit रदति (radati, “to scrape, scratch; to cut path, pave; to lead river into a channel; to bestow, convey”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "ratte"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German ratte"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "rate"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German rate"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*Hreh₃d-",
"t": "to scrape, scratch, gnaw"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"raat",
"raat#Middle_English"
],
[
"rat",
"rat#Middle_English"
],
[
"ratt",
"ratt#Middle_English"
],
[
"ratte",
"ratte#Middle_English"
],
[
"rotte",
"rotte#Middle_English"
],
[
"ræt",
"ræt#Old_English"
],
[
"rætt",
"rætt#Old_English"
],
[
"*ratt",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/ratt"
],
[
"*rattaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/rattaz"
],
[
"*rattō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/rattō"
],
[
"*Hreh₃d-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/Hreh₃d-"
],
[
"*rattaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/rattaz"
],
[
"root",
"root#North_Frisian"
],
[
"Rotte",
"Rotte#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"rôt",
"rôt#West_Frisian"
],
[
"rat",
"rat#Dutch"
],
[
"rot",
"rot#Dutch"
],
[
"Ratte",
"Ratte#German"
],
[
"Rat",
"Rat#Luxembourgish"
],
[
"rot",
"rot#Vilamovian"
],
[
"rott",
"rott#Vilamovian"
],
[
"ראַץ",
"ראַץ#Yiddish"
],
[
"Danish",
"rotte#Danish"
],
[
"rotte",
"rotte#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"Faroese",
"rotta#Faroese"
],
[
"rotta",
"rotta#Icelandic"
],
[
"rotta",
"rotta#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"rotte",
"rotte#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"røtte",
"røtte#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"råtta",
"råtta#Swedish"
],
[
"rattus",
"rattus#Latin"
],
[
"ratus",
"ratus#Latin"
],
[
"ratu",
"ratu#Asturian"
],
[
"rata",
"rata#Catalan"
],
[
"rat",
"rat#French"
],
[
"ratto",
"ratto#Italian"
],
[
"rato",
"rato#Portuguese"
],
[
"rata",
"rata#Spanish"
],
[
"rato",
"rato#Spanish"
],
[
"rōdō",
"rodo#Latin"
],
[
"रदति",
"रदति#Sanskrit"
],
[
"ratte",
"ratte#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"radde",
"radde#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"rate",
"rate#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"ratte",
"ratte#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"ratze",
"ratze#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"*Hreh₃d-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/Hreh₃d-"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snout, a long, hairless tail, and a body length greater than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.",
"A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus.",
"A person who is known for betrayal.",
"An informant or snitch."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
],
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 19142
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To hunt or kill rats.",
"To betray a political party, cause or principle; to betray someone, to desert a person or thing.",
"To work as a scab, going against trade union policies.",
"To backcomb (hair)."
],
"tags": [
"usually",
"intransitive",
"informal",
"US"
],
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"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 7,
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}
}