# rat

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹæt/ · frequency rank #5,446

## Definitions
1. Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snout, a long, hairless tail, and a body length greater than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.
2. A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus.
3. A person who is known for betrayal.
4. An informant or snitch.
5. A scab: a worker who acts against trade union policies.
6. A person who routinely spends time at a particular location.
7. A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.
8. A roll of material used to puff out the hair, which is turned over it.
9. Vagina, vulva.
10. Ellipsis of muskrat.

## Etymology
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.
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **re** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-re)
- **RS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rs)
- **rd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rd)
- **RT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rt)
- **RM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rm)
- **RN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rn)
- **RI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-ri)
- **RP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rp)
- **RC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rc)
- **RF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rf)
- **RV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rv)
- **RR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rr)
- **RL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rl)
- **RH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rh)
- **RW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-rw)
- **run** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-run)
- **red** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-red)
- **ray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-ray)
- **row** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-row)
- **raw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rat-vs-raw)

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