Why were rats named rats? - briefly
The English word “rat” derives from Old English ræt, a term linked to the verb “to gnaw,” describing the animal’s habit of chewing. Comparable roots in other Germanic languages show a shared etymology for the name.
Why were rats named rats? - in detail
The word “rat” traces back to the Proto‑Germanic rattaz, which appears in Old English as ræt and in Old High German as rat. Both forms likely derive from a common Indo‑European root reh₂- meaning “to gnaw” or “to scrape”. The same root produced the Old Norse rott and the Gothic raþs.
Latin adopted the term as rattus, a borrowing from the Germanic languages during the early centuries of the Common Era. The Latin form spread throughout the Roman Empire and entered the Romance languages: Old French rat, Italian ratto, Spanish rata. When English absorbed French vocabulary after the Norman Conquest, the French rat reinforced the native Old English term, resulting in the modern English spelling.
Chronology of the name’s development:
- Proto‑Indo‑European root reh₂- → Proto‑Germanic rattaz* (circa 500 BCE).
- Old English ræt and Old High German rat (early medieval period).
- Latin rattus (1st century CE), borrowed from Germanic sources.
- Old French rat (10th–12th centuries).
- Middle English rat (post‑Norman Conquest, 12th century onward).
The semantic field remained consistent: the term designated a medium‑sized, gnawing rodent belonging to the genus Rattus. No evidence suggests a descriptive nickname based on myth or folklore; the name evolved through ordinary linguistic borrowing and phonological adaptation across languages.
Thus, the current English label originates from a series of regular sound changes and cross‑language transfers that began with a Proto‑Germanic word linked to gnawing behavior, passed through Latin and French, and settled in English during the medieval period.