rato

Forms

rato m (plural ratos)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Latin raptus (“a snatching, abduction”), through the senses “jerk, sudden pull” and, figuratively, “instant”.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The etymology goes back to Covarrubias and was accepted by Diez, Meyer-Lübke and the Academy;^[6][1] Corominas finds no other convincing one, and rejects Spitzer's idea that it comes from the Latin phrase prō ratā parte (“in proportion”).^[2] The Latin noun is formed on rapiō (“to seize, snatch”).^[6][1] García de Diego explains the sense from the idea of time snatched or lost, and Bénaben from the speed that seizing implies.^[7][8]

The noun is also found in Portuguese rato, where in the archaic dialects of Trás-os-Montes it means “moment”.^[2][7] Italian ratto keeps the Latin sense “abduction, robbery”, and rapto is the learned Spanish doublet, recorded from the end of the 16th century.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is Berceo.^[2][3] In the Milagros (364c), when a Jew throws his son into the furnace, the mother screams and ovo muchas de yentes en un rato venidas “many people came in an instant”;^[10] Corominas argues that the urgency of the scene requires the sense “instant”.^[2] Berceo's Santo Domingo (c. 1236) has the diminutive ratiello, and the Libro de Apolonio (c. 1240, in a copy of the mid-14th century) has En poco de rato fue conçeio plegado “in a short while the council had gathered”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Corominas holds that the first sense was “instant, a moment's duration”, still general in South America, and that Spain later moved, by a kind of euphemism, to “a fairly long while”, which may have begun before 1495.^[2][3] Juan Ruiz writes quando tu non cuydares en un rato lo avrás “when you least expect it you will have it in a moment”, and the sense “moment” survives in Golden Age writers such as Balbuena and Garcilaso and in a proverb collected by Correas.^[2] The Spanish sense is announced by Nebrija's adverbial rato ha, rendering Latin dudum “a while ago”, and in 1588 Jerónimo de Mondragón titled a translation of Guicciardini Ratos de recreación.^[2][10] Covarrubias defined the word as “a short space of time”, Autoridades as “an indeterminate space of time”, and the Academy's editions of 1817–1884 as “a short space of time”, a definition Corominas calls false for Spain.^[2][12]

With bueno or malo the word has meant a passing pleasure or displeasure since Autoridades.^[12][4] In the Americas al rato means “immediately” or “soon”, a cada rato “every moment”, and hasta cada rato is a farewell in Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.^[2][13] Más rato is “later” in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile, and qué rato “a long time ago” in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Chile.^[13]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – Berceo's Milagros: en un rato “in an instant”.^[2][3]
• c. 1236 – the diminutive ratiello in Berceo's Santo Domingo.^[11]
• c. 1240 – en poco de rato in the Libro de Apolonio.^[11]
• 1277 – Alfonso X's prose: dun rato a otro “from one moment to another”.^[14]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija renders rato ha by Latin dudum, iamdudum.^[10][2]
• 1588 – Mondragón's translation of Guicciardini is titled Ratos de recreación.^[2]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as a short space of time and derives it from Latin raptus.^[2][12]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades: “an indeterminate space of time”, and buen rato, mal rato.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy defines it as “a short space of time”.^[15][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A while: a period of time, especially a short one: Me quedé un rato en el parque.^[4][1]
2. With buen or mal: a passing pleasure or displeasure: pasar un buen rato, dar un mal rato.^[4][16]
3. (Latin America) A moment, in phrases such as al rato “soon, shortly after” and a cada rato “all the time”.^[2][13]

Word family

• ratito

Related words

• rapto
• Latin raptus

Usage notes

Phrases include a ratos “now and then”, a ratos perdidos “in one's spare time” and pasar el rato “to pass the time”.^[16][1] Corominas stresses that in Spain the word means a fairly long while, so that the American al rato “in a moment” sounds odd to a Spaniard.^[2]

The adjective rato “ratified”, from Latin ratus (“confirmed”), the participle of reor (“to think, reckon”), is now used only in matrimonio rato, a marriage solemnly celebrated but not yet consummated.^[17][16][1] Colonial deeds use it in the formula firme, rato e grato “firm, ratified and accepted”.^[18] The noun rato “male rat”, also “mouse”, comes from rata; it was used in older Spanish, as in an Alfonsine text of 1250–1300 that recommends the flesh of ratos pequennos “small mice”, and Autoridades notes that it survived in some places.^{[19][20][14][12]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 795
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rato
4. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. rato
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. raptus
8. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. rato
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 637
10. ^ a b c Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. rato1
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. rato
12. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 497
13. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. rato
14. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. rato
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 729
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rato
17. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. rato 1
18. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. racto
19. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. rato 3
20. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. rato