rat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹæt/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English rat, ratte, inherited from Old English ræt (attested once), reinforced in Middle English by Old French rat.^[2][3][4][5] Similar words are found in Celtic (Gaelic radan), Romance (Medieval Latin ratus, Italian ratto, Spanish rata) and Germanic (Old Saxon ratta, Dutch rat, German Ratte), but their connection and ultimate source are unknown.^[3][2] NODE takes the English word as probably of Romance origin,^[6] while the OED thinks it probable that the word spread from Germanic to Romance.^[3] The American Heritage Dictionary connects it with Latin rōdere (“to gnaw”) (see rodent), a link Klein rejects.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The rodent: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart.^[7][2] In Middle English the commoner form was ratton, from Old French raton.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that the animal was probably not known in Europe much before 900–1000.^[2] To smell a rat is from before 1550, and like a drowned rat from about 1500.^[7] The verb, to desert one's party, is from 1812, from the belief that rats leave a sinking ship;^[3] to work for less than the current wage or refuse to strike is from 1847, and to inform on someone from 1910.^[3] The rat race, a fierce competitive struggle, is from the mid-20th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – the rodent.^[7]
• before 1550 – smell a rat.^[7]
• 1812 – to desert one's party (verb).^[3]
• 1847 – to break a strike.^[3]
• 1910 – to inform on someone.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A rodent resembling a large mouse, typically with a long tail, of the genus Rattus.
2. (informal) A despicable person, especially one who deserts or betrays others.
3. (informal) An informer.

Verb

1. (informal, rat on) To inform on or betray.
2. To hunt rats.

Interjection

1. (rats) Used to express mild annoyance.

Word family

• ratlike

Related words

• ratten
• rat race
• mouse
• rodent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press