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grate

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Etymology and origin of the English word grate

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡɹeɪt/[1]

grate1 framework of bars

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1348
Borrowed from
Latin grata via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin crātis

Etymology

The framework of bars is inherited from Middle English grate,[2] borrowed from Medieval Latin grāta (“a grating, lattice”), an alteration of Latin crātis (“wickerwork, hurdle”).[3][4][5] Etymonline and Barnhart allow Old French grate as a source beside the Medieval Latin word,[6][7] and Ayto takes it through Old French and Vulgar Latin *grāta;[8] the OED thinks the Medieval Latin word, perhaps used in monastic Latin for a lattice, came from Italian grata (“grate, gridiron, hurdle”), and that the single Old French example in Godefroy may itself be from monastic Latin.[9] The Shorter Oxford also names Spanish grada (“hurdle”).[10] Barnhart calls it a doublet of crate,[7] and Etymonline, after Watkins, thinks the Latin noun may come from the same root as hurdle.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barnhart dates the noun to 1348, for a grating of pierced iron plate, especially over a drain;[7] Etymonline gives "grill for cooking" in the late 14th century and "iron bars across a door or window" in the early 15th.[6] The OED's first record, from before 1400, is of a railing round a monument,[9] and the MED's first is of 1423, iron grates for the windows of a cellar in London.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first a general term for a grating;[11] Hoad traces it from "grating, grille" in the 14th century through "cage, prison" in the 16th to "barred frame for holding fuel" in the 17th.[12] The OED records a lattice in a door or window from about 1440, a cage or prison from 1552 to 1777, and, since 1605, a frame of metal bars holding the fuel in a fireplace or furnace, hence the fireplace itself.[9] Johnson (1755) still gave first the sense of a partition of bars "such as are in cloysters or prisons".[13] In Cornish mining, a grate was a screen used when stamping ore (1778).[9] A verb, to fit with a grate, appears about 1450,[7] and in More (1529) it meant to confine behind bars.[9] Grating, a framework of bars, is recorded from 1626.[7] Word Origins notes that the same Latin source lies behind griddle, grill, grille and grid.[11]

Timeline

  • 1348 – a grating of pierced iron plate, especially for a drain.[7]
  • before 1400 – a railing round a monument (obsolete by 1872).[9]
  • 1412 – a framework or perforated plate closing an opening while letting fluids through.[9]
  • c. 1440 – a lattice of bars in a door or window.[9][2]
  • c. 1450 – verb, to fit with a grate.[7] Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century,[6] the OED to before 1549.[9]
  • 1529 – verb, to confine behind bars (obsolete), in More.[9]
  • 1552 – a cage or prison (obsolete by 1777).[9]
  • 1605 – a frame of bars holding the fuel in a fireplace or furnace; hence the fireplace.[9]
  • 1778 – in mining, a screen used when stamping ore.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A frame of metal bars that holds the fuel in a fireplace, stove or furnace; also the fireplace itself: Logs crackled in the grate.[14][3][9]
  2. A framework of parallel or crossed bars over an opening such as a window or drain; a grating.[14][3][9]
  3. (mining) A perforated plate or screen for sorting crushed ore.[14][9]
  4. (archaic) A railing round a monument or building, often of wrought iron.[3][9]
  5. (obsolete, 1552–1777) A cage or prison.[3][9]

Verb

  1. To fit with a grate or grating.[14][3][9]
  2. (obsolete) To confine behind bars.[3][9][10]

Word family

  • grating
  • grateless
  • gratelike

grate2 scrape, rub; irritate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1399 before 1399, a cookery recipe
Borrowed from
Old French grater via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Frankish *krattōn

Etymology

The verb meaning to scrape is inherited from Middle English graten,[2][3] borrowed from Old French grater (“to scrape, scratch”), now gratter,[9][6][7][12][4] from Frankish *krattōn,[7][6][12] from Proto-Germanic *krattōną,[6][9][1] the source also of Old High German krazzōn (“to scratch”), German kratzen (“to scratch”), Swedish kratta and Danish kratte (“to rake”).[9][6][3][8] Etymonline thinks the Germanic verb probably imitative.[6] The Romance verb is shared with Spanish gratar and Italian grattare.[9][6] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the mid-12th century, meaning to scratch, to irritate and to scrape.[15] Barnhart also allows a back-formation from Middle English gratur (“grater”).[7] It is related to scratch.[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To reduce bread to crumbs or powder: before 1399, in a cookery recipe ("Take brede ygrated").[7][2] Etymonline also dates the verb to the late 14th century, implied in grated;[6] the OED's first record, 1412–20 in Lydgate's translation of the history of Troy, is of making a weapon strike or "bite".[9]

Semantic evolution

The physical senses spread in the 15th century: to grate food on a grater (about 1430) and to scrape, file or abrade (before 1500 to 1660).[9] Hoad dates "rasp small" to the 15th century and "rub harshly upon" to the 16th.[12] The figurative sense "to fret, irritate" is recorded from 1555,[9] and grating, irritating, from 1563;[7] Etymonline dates both "sound harshly" and "annoy" to the mid-16th century,[6] and Barnhart's first record of the sound is in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV (1596).[7] To grate on or upon first meant to burden someone with demands (1532 to 1706), and since 1631 to have an irritating effect;[9] Word Origins dates the "grates upon" use to the early 17th century.[11] A short-lived sense was to obtain by extortion (1540–42).[9] In Somerset and Devon dialect the verb meant to graze, and in older Scots to vex.[16]

Timeline

  • before 1399 – to reduce bread to crumbs or powder.[7][2]
  • 1412–20 – to make a weapon strike or bite (obsolete by 1700), in Lydgate.[9]
  • c. 1430 – to rub food to small particles on a grater.[9]
  • 1439 – noun, a grater (obsolete by 1674).[2][9]
  • before 1500 – to scrape, file or abrade (obsolete by 1660).[9]
  • 1532 – grate on, to burden with demands (obsolete by 1706).[9]
  • 1555 – to irritate, fret.[9]
  • 1563 – grating, irritating.[7]
  • 1596 – to make a harsh sound, in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV.[7]
  • 1631 – grate on, to have an irritating effect.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To reduce food to small shreds by rubbing it against a rough or perforated surface: She grated some parmesan over the soup.[17][14][3]
  2. To scrape or rub with a harsh, rasping noise, or to make such a noise: The gate grated on its rusty hinges.[17][14][3]
  3. To grind one's teeth with a harsh sound.[3]
  4. grate on or upon: to irritate or annoy: His constant humming grated on her.[17][14][9]
  5. (archaic) To scrape or rub roughly; abrade.[3][9]
  6. (obsolete, 1540–42) To obtain by extortion or importunity.[3][9]

Noun

  1. A harsh rasping sound.[17][14]
  2. (obsolete, 1439–1674) A grater.[3][9][2]

Word family

  • grater
  • gratingly

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  15. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  16. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  17. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Grate.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/grate. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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