# rat
## English
### Pronunciation

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

### Etymology 1

From Middle English ratte, rat, rotte, from Old English rætt, from Proto-West Germanic *ratt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, *rattō (compare West Frisian rôt, Dutch rat), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”). However, the rat may have been unknown in Northern Europe in antiquity, and the Proto-Germanic word may have referred to a different animal; see *rattaz for more. Attestation of this family of words begins in the 12th century. (Can this etymology be sourced?)
Some of the Germanic cognates show considerable 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, although Kroonen 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 descendants. Kroonen states that this requires a Proto-Indo-European etymon in final *t and is incompatible with the usual derivation from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”).

#### Noun

rat (plural rats)
* (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.
* (informal) Any of the numerous members of several rodent families (e.g. voles and mice) that resemble true rats in appearance, usually having a pointy snout, a long, bare tail, and body length greater than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.
* (informal) A person who is known for betrayal; a scoundrel; a quisling.
    rat bastard
** 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here house.
    What a rat, leaving us stranded here!
** 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XVIII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 185:"Ah, so you damn rat, this is a put-up job eh?"
* (informal) An informant or snitch.
* (informal) A scab: a worker who acts against trade union policies.
* (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.
* A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.
* A roll of material used to puff out the hair, which is turned over it.
* (UK, north-west London, slang, vulgar) Vagina, vulva.
** 2022, Chambers Hester Louise, Champion Michael James, Teasdale Rhian Louise, “Too Late Now”, in Wet Leg, performed by Wet Leg, Domino, →OCLC:I don't need no dating app to tell me if I look like crap / To tell me if I'm thin or fat, to tell me should I shave my rat / I don't need no radio, no MTV, no BBC / I just need a bubble bath to set me on a higher path
    Get your rat out.
* (chiefly informal) Short for muskrat.
** 1910, L. W. Pierce, “Muskrats are fast disappearing”, in Hunter-trader-trapper, page 70:The price of rats began to rise and soon after the marsh froze over, spearing rats began, which was done with a one tine three-eighths inch steel rod, with a wooden handle […]
** 1929, E. J. Dailey, in Hardings Magazine's Question Box, printed in Fur Fish Game, page 73:
    Where natural marshes, or natural foods are found, are best places for raising muskrats. Louisiana and other southern states raise millions of rats, but they do not bring as good prices as northern raised ones. Delaware and Maryland have famed marshes. Other states are becoming noted for muskrat raising, also.

##### Synonyms

* (person known for betrayal): traitor (see for more synonyms)
* (informer): stool pigeon

##### Derived terms

* Alexandrine rat
* Ankole African mole-rat
* antirat
* armored rat
* Asian black rat
* bamboo rat
* bandicoot rat
* barracks rat
* big-headed rice rat
* biobreeding rat
* black rat
* blind mole-rat
* blind mole rat
* blind rat
* bograt
* bottle rat
* brass rat
* brig rat
* brown rat
* bulldog rat
* bunny rat
* bush rat
* camas rat
* cane rat
* chinchilla rat
* cloud rat
* clubrat
* coast rat
* common rat
* cotton rat
* Coues' rice rat
* crab-eating rat
* crazier than a shithouse rat
* crazy as a shithouse rat
* crested rat
* dassie rat
* Demonrat
* derat
* deratize
* desert mole rat
* desert rat
* emperor rat
* fancy rat
* fanny rat
* field rat
* fish-eating rat
* floe rat
* flying rat
* frat rat
* give a rat's ass
* grass rat
* greater cane rat
* great white rat
* gym rat
* gym-rat
* hangar rat
* Hanoverian rat
* Hanover rat
* hasbarat
* hill rat
* Himalayan field rat
* hoary bamboo rat
* hog-rat
* hood rat
* hoodrat
* house rat
* kangaroo rat
* kangaroo-rat
* K-rat
* kusu rat
* laboratory rat
* lab rat
* lab-rat
* Laotian rock rat
* large-headed rice rat
* Lewis rat
* like a drowned rat
* like a rat from a sinking ship
* like a rat up a drain
* like a rat up a drainpipe
* like rats from a sinking ship
* Long-Evans rat
* love rat
* Maclear's rat
* Malabar rat
* mall rat
* maned rat
* Maori rat
* marsh rice rat
* millrat
* mole-rat
* mole rat
* moon rat
* moonrat
* mosaic-tailed rat
* mountain rat
* musk-rat
* muzrat
* Nairobi grass rat
* naked mole rat
* naked sand rat
* Namaqua rock rat
* New Guinean rat
* New World rat
* nonrat
* Norway rat
* Norwegian rat
* nutria rat
* Old World rat
* Pacific rat
* pack-rat
* pack rat
* packrat
* painted tree rat
* pig-rat
* Pine Rat
* plague rat
* Polynesian rat
* poor as a rat
* pouched rat
* rabbit rat
* rabbit-rat
* rat-arsed
* rat arsed
* ratbag
* rat-baiting
* rat bastard
* rat-bastard
* rat bastid
* rat bike
* rat-bite fever
* ratborne
* Ratboy
* rat cake
* ratcatcher
* ratcatching
* rat cheese
* rat chinchilla
* rat dog
* ratette
* ratface
* rat-fall
* rat fink
* rat-fink
* ratfink
* ratfish
* rat flood
* rat-folk
* ratfolk
* rat-friendly
* ratfuck
* rat-fuck
* rat fuck
* ratfucker
* rat fucker
* rat-fucker
* rat-goose
* rat guard
* rat hole
* rathole
* rathood
* rat house
* raticide
* rat in a granary
* rat kangaroo
* rat king
* ratless
* rat-licker
* ratlike
* ratling
* rat lungworm
* ratly
* ratmageddon
* rat-mole
* rat mole
* ratness
* rat on
* rat out
* rat pack
* rat pit
* rat poison
* rat printing office
* ratproof
* rat-race
* rat race
* rat racer
* rat-ridden
* rat rod
* rat run
* rat runner
* ratsbane
* ratshit
* rat shot
* ratshot
* ratsicle
* ratskin
* rat snake
* rat's nest
* rattail
* rat-tail
* rat-tailed maggot
* rat-tailed pit viper
* rat-tail file
* rat-tail radish
* rat-tail splice
* ratten
* ratter
* rat terrier
* rattery
* rat through
* rattish
* rat-trap
* rat trap
* rattrap
* rat-trap cheese
* ratty
* rat wall
* rat with wings
* RCS rat
* region rat
* rice rat
* ring rat
* rink rat
* ritten
* river rat
* rock rat
* roof rat
* Rowett nude rat
* royal rat
* rug rat
* rugrat
* sand rat
* sandy blind mole-rat
* sandy blind mole rat
* sea rat
* Seram long-tailed mosaic-tailed rat
* sewer rat
* shack rat
* shaking rat Kawasaki
* ship rat
* sky rat
* smell a rat
* spiny rat
* stick-nest rat
* superrat
* super-rat
* swamp rat
* Tate's shrew rat
* torat
* tree rat
* trumpet-tailed rat
* tunnel rat
* viscacha rat
* vlei rat
* water-rat
* water rat
* welfare rat
* wererat
* western rat snake
* wharf rat
* whitret
* winged rat
* winter rat
* wood rat
* woodrat
* Ziegler's water rat

##### See also

* mouse
* rodent

#### Verb

rat (third-person singular simple present rats, present participle ratting, simple past and past participle ratted)
* (of a dog, etc.) To hunt or kill rats. [from 19th c.]
* (intransitive) To betray a political party, cause or principle; to betray someone, to desert a person or thing. [from 19th c.]
* (informal, intransitive) To work as a scab, going against trade union policies. [from 19th c.]
* (chiefly US) To backcomb (hair). [from 20th c.]
** 2021, Rickie Lee Jones, Last Chance Texaco, Grove Press, published 2022, page 31:In 1962, the higher a girl's hair was ratted the more available she was, it was simply understood.
* (intransitive, with on or out) To inform on someone; to betray someone to the police or authorities. [from 20th c.]
    He ratted on his coworker.
    He is going to rat us out!

##### Synonyms

* (to betray someone to an authority): tell on, to finger or put the finger on, bewray

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### References

* 1 2 3 4 Guus Kroonen, The Proto-Germanic n-stems (2011), page 222

### Etymology 2

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

#### Noun

rat (plural rats)
* (regional) A scratch or a score.
* (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

rat (third-person singular simple present rats, present participle ratting, simple past and past participle ratted)
* (regional) To scratch or score.
    He ratted a vertical line on his face with a pocket knife.
* (regional, rare, obsolete) To tear, rip, rend.
    Ratted to shreds.
* Damn, drat, blast; used in oaths.
** 1904, Rafael Sabatini, chapter XXVI, in The Tavern Knight:“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

* The Middle English Dictionary
* The English dialect dictionary

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

rat (plural rats)
* (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

* C-rat

### Anagrams

* Tar, TRA, ART, ATR, art, TAR, RTA, rta, Art, tra, tar, 'art, art.

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈrat]
* Audio (Valencia):(file)
* Rhymes: -at

### Noun

rat m (plural rats)
* rat
    Synonym: rata

### Further reading

* “rat” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “rat”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “rat” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “rat” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Danish
### Etymology

From Middle Low German rat (“wheel”), from Old Saxon rath.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /rat/, [ˈʁɑd̥]
* Homophone: ret (except in some older speakers)

### Noun

rat n (singular definite rattet, plural indefinite rat)
* wheel, steering wheel

#### Inflection
## Dutch
### Alternative forms

* rot (Northern Dutch, dialectal)

### Etymology

From Middle Dutch ratte, from Old Dutch *rato, *roto, from Frankish *ratt, *rato, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz (“rat”). Related to Old High German rato.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /rɑt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: rat
* Rhymes: -ɑt
* Homophone: rad

### Noun

rat f (plural ratten, diminutive ratje n)
* (zoology) a rat, medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus, or of certain other genera in the family Muridae
* (informal) any of the numerous, fairly large members of several rodent families that resemble true rats in appearance
* (informal) a traitor; a scoundrel; a quisling
* (informal) an informant or snitch
* (informal) an urchin
* (informal) a pauper; undesirable commoner
* (slang) a watch

#### Derived terms

* landrat
* rattenbeet
* rattengif
* rattenkoning
* rattenval
* rattenvanger
* rattenvergif
* rioolrat
* straatrat
* waterrat
* zwemrat
* bisamrat
* bruine rat
* buidelrat
* muskusrat
* rattenbever
* rattenvlo
* waterrat
* woelrat
* woestijnrat
* zwarte rat

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: rot
* Jersey Dutch: rot
* Negerhollands: rotto, roto
** → Virgin Islands Creole: roto (dated)
* →? Kari'na: alata (via Sranantongo, possibly from Spanish)
* →? Saramaccan: alátu (possibly from Spanish)

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French rat (“rat”), from Old French rat (“rat”); ultimately of Germanic origin, from Old High German rato (“rat”) or Frankish *rato (“rat”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʁa/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -a

### Noun

rat m (plural rats, feminine rate)
* rat
* (informal) sweetheart
* scrooge

#### Derived terms

* à bon chat, bon rat
* comme un rat mort
* être fait comme un rat
* face de rat
* gueux comme un rat d’église
* mort-aux-rats
* orge des rats
* queue-de-rat
* rat de bibliothèque
* rat de bois
* rat d’eau
* rat d’égout
* rat d’hôtel
* rat musqué
* rat taupier
* trou à rats

#### Related terms

* raton
* rate
* rat d’hôtel
* rater

### Further reading

* “rat”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* art

## Indonesian
### Etymology

From Javanese rat (ꦫꦠ꧀),
* from Old Javanese rāt (“world, land”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *daʀat.
* from Sanskrit रथ (ratha, “chariot, wagon, body”). See Yana (Buddhism) in Wikipedia for more information.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈrat̪̚]
* Hyphenation: rat

### Noun

rat
* (archaic) world
    Synonyms: alam, dunia, jagat

### Further reading

* “rat” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Kalasha
### Etymology

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

### Noun

rat (Arabic رات)
* night

## Maltese
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /raːt/
* Homophones: ragħad, rgħat (except archaically)

### Verb

rat
* third-person feminine singular perfect of ra

## Middle Dutch
### Etymology 1

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

#### Noun

rat n
* 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
* fast, quick

##### Descendants

* Dutch: rad

### Further reading

* “rat”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
* Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “rat (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
* Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “rat (III)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page III

## Middle English
### Noun

rat
* Alternative form of ratte

## Norman
### Etymology

From Old French rat (“rat”).

### Noun

rat m (plural rats)
* (Jersey, Guernsey) rat

#### Derived terms

* coue d'rat (“horsetail”)
* rat dg'ieau (“water vole”)
* rat mustchi (“muskrat”)

## Occitan
### Pronunciation

* Audio (Languedoc):(file)

### Noun

rat m (plural rats)
* (Rattus rattus) black rat

#### Synonyms

* garri

#### Derived terms

* coa de rat
* rat bufon
* rat calhòl
* rat de camp
* rat de vinha
* rat dormeire
* rat esquiròl
* rat griule
* rat miralhièr
* rat talpenc
* rat talpièr
* rat teuladièr
* rat trompeta
* rat-vibre

#### Related terms

* rata

### References

* ↑ Gui Benoèt, "Las bèstias", 2008, Toulouse, IEO Edicions, 2008, →ISBN, p. 161

## Old French
### Etymology

Of Germanic origin, from Old High German rato (“rat”) or Frankish *rato (“rat”).

### Noun

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

#### Descendants

* Middle French: rat
** French: rat
** Norman: rat

### References

Brachet, A. (1873) “rat”, in Kitchin, G. W., transl., Etymological dictionary of the French language (Clarendon Press Series), 1st edition, London: Oxford/MacMillan and Co.

## Old Javanese
### Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *daʀat.

### Noun

rat
* land

## Romani
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀭𑀢𑁆𑀢 (ratta), from Sanskrit रक्त (rakta). Cognate with dialectal Hindi रात (rāt) and Punjabi ਰੱਤ (ratta).

#### Pronunciation

IPA: /ɾat/

#### Noun

rat m (nominative plural rata)
* blood

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀭𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀺 (ratti), from Sanskrit रात्रि (rātri).

#### Alternative forms

* ratyi (Anglicized)
* rǎt, rǎtǐ (International Standard)

#### Pronunciation

IPA: /ɾat/, /ɾʲat/

#### Noun

rat f (nominative plural ratǎ)
* night

##### Derived terms

* laćhi rǎt

### References

* 1 2 3 Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “rakta1”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 610
* 1 2 3 Boretzky, Norbert, Igla, Birgit (1994) “rat²”, in Wörterbuch Romani-Deutsch-Englisch für den südosteuropäischen Raum : mit einer Grammatik der Dialektvarianten [Romani-German-English dictionary for the Southern European region] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 243a
* 1 2 3 Dieter W. Halwachs (2001 September) “Origin and Denomination”, in ROMBASE Cultural Database‎, Graz, Austria, archived from the original on 19 August 2021
* ↑ Marcel Courthiade (2009) “o rat, -es- ʒ. [sic] -a, -en-”, in Melinda Rézműves, editor, Morri angluni rromane ćhibǎqi evroputni lavustik = Első rromani nyelvű európai szótáram : cigány, magyar, angol, francia, spanyol, német, ukrán, román, horvát, szlovák, görög [My First European-Romani Dictionary: Romani, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Greek] (overall work in Hungarian and English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 303ab
* 1 2 Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “rāˊtrī”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 619
* 1 2 3 Boretzky, Norbert, Igla, Birgit (1994) “rat¹”, in Wörterbuch Romani-Deutsch-Englisch für den südosteuropäischen Raum : mit einer Grammatik der Dialektvarianten [Romani-German-English dictionary for the Southern European region] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, pages 242b-243a
* ↑ Marcel Courthiade (2009) “i rat, -ǎ- ʒ. -ǎ, -ěn- = e rǎt, -ǎ- ʒ. -ǎ, -ěn- = e rǎt/ǐ, -ǎ- ʒ. -ǎ, -ěn-”, in Melinda Rézműves, editor, Morri angluni rromane ćhibǎqi evroputni lavustik = Első rromani nyelvű európai szótáram : cigány, magyar, angol, francia, spanyol, német, ukrán, román, horvát, szlovák, görög [My First European-Romani Dictionary: Romani, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Greek] (overall work in Hungarian and English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 303b

## Romansch
### Etymology

From Frankish *rato (“rat”).

### Noun

rat m (plural rats)
* (Surmiran) rat

#### Synonyms

* ratung

## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ortь, from the o-grade of 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

* IPA: /rât/

### Noun

rȁt m (Cyrillic spelling ра̏т, relational adjective rȁtnī)
* war
    Synonym: vojna
    Samo idioti misle da rat r(j)ešava probleme. ― Only idiots think that war solves problems.

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “rat”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

## Torres Strait Creole
### Etymology

From English rat.

### Noun

rat
* rat or mouse

#### Synonyms

* mukeis (eastern dialect)

## Volapük
### Etymology

Borrowed from English rat.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ɾat]

### Noun

rat (nominative plural rats)
* rat (rodent of the family Muridae)

#### Declension

$^1$ status as a case is disputed $^2$ in later, non-classical Volapük only

#### Hypernyms

* nim
* sügaf
* süganim
* tuetaf
* tuetanim

#### Hyponyms

* ratil
* ratül

#### Derived terms

* ratagöb
* ratajiedot
* ratanäst
* ratifanan
* ratiträp
* rativenen
* taratpuin

#### See also

* mug
* yat