# prat

> English word · Noun · IPA /pɹat/ · frequency rank #47,836

## Definitions
1. A cunning or mischievous trick; a prank, a joke.

## Etymology
From Middle English prat, from Old English præt, prætt (“trick, prank, craft, art, wile”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattu, from Proto-Germanic *prattuz (“boastful talk, deceit”), from Proto-Indo-European *brodno- (“to wander about”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian prat, Dutch pret (“fun, pleasure, gaity”), obsolete Dutch prat (“cunning, strategem, scheme, a prideful display, arrogance”), Low German prot, Norwegian prette (“trick”), Icelandic prettur (“a trick”). Related to pretty.

## Easily confused with
- **pt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pt)
- **put** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-put)
- **pro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pro)
- **PSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-psa)
- **PST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pst)
- **PRC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prc)
- **pry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pry)
- **PTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pta)
- **PRS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prs)
- **pray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pray)
- **prey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prey)
- **prep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prep)
- **pros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pros)
- **prom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prom)
- **prop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prop)
- **pres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-pres)
- **punt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-punt)
- **prob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prob)
- **prem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prem)
- **prod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prat-vs-prod)

## Common misspellings (4)
`pprat`, `prrat`, `prta`, `rpat`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/prat