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rather

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈrɑː.ðə/, US /ˈræð.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rather, inherited from Old English hraþor (“more quickly; earlier, sooner”),[2][3][4] the comparative of hraþe (“quickly, soon”), the source of rathe, itself related to hræþ (“quick, nimble”),[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *hrathaz,[3] which Etymonline and Barnhart connect with Proto-Indo-European *kret- (“to shake”).[2][3] Its relatives include Old Norse hraðr and Old High German hrad.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

More quickly, sooner: Old English hraþor, about 725, in Beowulf.[3]

Semantic evolution

By about 1175 rather meant “more readily, more properly, sooner”, and before 1200 “instead of”.[3] “On the contrary” is from the late 13th century and “preferably” from about 1300.[2] Middle English also used it as an adjective, “earlier, former”, as in Wycliffe's “he was rather than I” (John 1:30)[6] and Spenser's “the rather lambes” (1579).[2][6] The sense “somewhat” is from the 16th century,[7][8] and “moderately” by the 1660s.[2] The positive rathe was obsolete by the 18th century except in poetry.[2] The emphatic reply Rather! first appears in Dickens's Sketches by Boz (1835–36).[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English hraþor (Beowulf).[3]
  • c. 1175 – more readily, sooner.[3]
  • late 13th century – on the contrary.[2]
  • c. 1300 – preferably.[2]
  • 1573 – somewhat.[8]
  • 1660s – moderately.[2]
  • 1835–36 – Rather! (Dickens).[3]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. More readily; preferably: I'd rather walk.
  2. With better reason or more justification.
  3. More exactly: late last night, or rather early this morning.
  4. To some extent; somewhat.
  5. On the contrary.

Interjection

  1. (British, dated) Certainly; used as an emphatic yes.

Word family

  • druthers
  • rather than

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that in expressions of preference rather usually follows would or, formally, should, and that had rather is now less common but still found in good writing.[9] The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary records an old-fashioned British pronunciation /ˌrɑːˈðɜː/ for the emphatic reply.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin