rat

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See also: Rat, RAT, rất, rät, and råt

English

A brown rat, one of the many species of rat.
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Pronunciation

  • enPR: răt, IPA(key): /ɹæt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æt

Etymology 1

From Middle English ratte, rat, rotte, from Old English rætt, as though from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, *rattō (compare West Frisian rôt, Dutch rat), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”); however, the rat was unknown in Northern Europe in antiquity, so if the Proto-Germanic word is real it must have referred to a different animal. Attestation of this family of words begins in the 12th century.

Some of the Germanic cognates show 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, in which case it would not be old. Kroonen (2011) rather 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 daughters. Kroonen's explanation requires a Proto-Indo-European etymon in final *t, and is hence incompatible with the usual derivation from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”).

Noun

rat (plural rats)

  1. (zoology) A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus.
    • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:
      Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.
  2. (informal) Any of the numerous members of several rodent families (e.g. voles and mice) having bodies longer than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.
  3. (informal) A person who is known for betrayal; a scoundrel; a quisling.
    What a rat, leaving us stranded here!
  4. (informal) An informant or snitch.
  5. (informal) A scab: a worker who acts against trade union policies.
  6. (slang) A person who routinely spends time at a particular location.
    Our teenager has become a mall rat.
    He loved hockey and was a devoted rink rat.
  7. A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.
  8. A roll of material used to puff out the hair, which is turned over it.
  9. (UK, north-west London, slang, vulgar) Vagina.
    Get your rat out.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from rat
Translations
See also

Verb

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  1. (usually with “on” or “out”) To betray a person or party, especially by telling their secret to an authority or an enemy; to turn someone in.
    He ratted on his coworker.
    He is going to rat us out!
  2. (informal, intransitive) To work as a scab, going against trade union policies.
  3. (of a dog, etc.) To kill rats.
Synonyms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

From Middle English ratten, further etymology unknown. Compare Middle High German ratzen (“to scratch; rasp; tear”). Could be related to write. See also rit.

Noun

rat (plural rats)

  1. (regional) A scratch or a score.
  2. (nautical, regional) A place in the sea with rapid currents and crags where a ship is likely to be torn apart in stormy weather.

Verb

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  1. (regional) To scratch or score.
    He ratted a vertical line on his face with a pocket knife.
  2. (regional, rare, obsolete) To tear, rip, rend.
    Ratted to shreds.
  3. damn, drat, blast; used in oaths
    • 1904, Rafael Sabatini, The Tavern Knight, chapter XXVI:
      “But, rat me, sir,” cried Foster in bewilderment, “tis too generous—'pon honour it is. I can't consent to it. No, rat me, I can't.”
Usage notes

The verb rat is rarely used in the second sense. In the sense to tear, rip, rend, the form to-rat is more common. Compare German zerreißen (“to rip up, tear, rend”).

References

Etymology 3

Noun

rat (plural rats)

  1. (military, slang) A ration.
    • 2014, John, Buffoon (page 243)
      With regards to the testing of his product, the initial blood analysis had come back confirming huge, distinctive nutritional superiority for Stewart's military ration pack. Given that the policy of the British Army is to be fully ready for war at the drop of a hat, he was sitting on the potential of supplying new rats for the entire army […]
Derived terms

Anagrams

Catalan

Pronunciation

Noun

rat m (plural rats)

  1. rat

Synonyms

Danish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Noun

rat n (singular definite rattet, plural indefinite rat)

  1. wheel, steering wheel

Inflection

Declension of rat
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative rat rattet rat rattene
genitive rats rattets rats rattenes

Dutch

Alternative forms

  • rot (Northern Dutch, dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ratte.

Pronunciation

Noun

rat f (plural ratten, diminutive ratje n)

  1. A rat; rodent of the genus Rattus, or of certain other genera in the family Muridae.

Derived terms

French

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French rat (“rat”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French rat (“rat”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Frankish *rato (“rat”); further origin uncertain. More at rat.

Pronunciation

Noun

rat m (plural rats)

  1. rat
  2. (informal) sweetheart
  3. scrooch

Further reading

Anagrams

Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit रात्रि (rātri). Cognate with Hindi रात (rāt).

Noun

rat

  1. night

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *rath, from Proto-Germanic *raþą, from Proto-Indo-European *Hret-.

Noun

rat n

  1. wheel
    Synonym: wiel
Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants
  • Dutch: rad
  • Limburgish: raad

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *rath, from Proto-Germanic *raþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *Hret-.

Adjective

rat

  1. fast, quick
Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Further reading

Middle English

Noun

rat

  1. Alternative form of ratte

Norman

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French rat (“rat”).

Noun

rat m (plural rats)

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) rat

Derived terms

Occitan

Noun

rat m (plural rats)

  1. (Rattus rattus)[1] black rat

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Gui Benoèt, "Las bèstias", 2008, Toulouse, IEO Edicions, 2008, →ISBN, p. 161

Old French

Etymology

Of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "gem" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. origin. See rat for more.

Noun

rat oblique singular, m (oblique plural raz or ratz, nominative singular raz or ratz, nominative plural rat)

  1. rat (rodent)

Descendants

Romani

Etymology

From Sanskrit रक्त (rakta, “blood”). Cognate with dialectal Hindi रात (rāt) and Punjabi ਰੱਤ (ratta).

Noun

rat m (plural rat)

  1. blood

Romansch

Etymology

From Frankish *rato (“rat”).

Noun

rat m (plural rats)

  1. (Surmiran) rat

Synonyms

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ortь, from the o-grade of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to rise, to attack”), cognate to Ancient Greek ἔρις (éris, “quarrel, strife”), Sanskrit ऋति (ṛti, “assault”) and Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“struggle, fight”)

Pronunciation

Noun

rȁt m (Cyrillic spelling ра̏т)

  1. war
    Samo idioti misle da rat r(j)ešava probleme.‎
    Only idiots think that war solves problems.

Declension

Declension of rat
singular plural
nominative rat ratovi
genitive rata ratova
dative ratu ratovima
accusative rat ratove
vocative rate ratovi
locative ratu ratovima
instrumental ratom ratovima

Synonyms

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] English rat.

Noun

rat

  1. rat or mouse

Synonyms

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from English rat.

Pronunciation

Noun

rat (nominative plural rats)

  1. rat (rodent of the family Muridae)

Declension

declension of rat
singular plural
nominative rat rats
genitive rata ratas
dative rate rates
accusative rati ratis
vocative 1 o rat! o rats!
predicative 2 ratu ratus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

See also

Westrobothnian

Etymology

Cognate to Icelandic hrat n.

Noun

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  1. garbage, waste, in forest lying twigs, rotten trees and stumps
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