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rate¹

  • /ɹeɪt/ US, UK

Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English rate, from Old French rate, from Medieval Latin rata, from Latin prō ratā parte (“according to a fixed part”), from ratus (“fixed”), from rērī (“think, deem, judge, estimate", originally "reckon, calculate”).

noun rates

  1. countable, obsolete, uncountable The worth of something; value. There shall no figure at such rate be set, / As that of true and faithfull Iuliet.
  2. countable, uncountable The proportional relationship between one amount, value etc. and another. At the height of his powers, he was producing pictures at the rate of four a year.
  3. countable, uncountable Speed. The car was speeding down here at a hell of a rate.
  4. countable, uncountable The relative speed of change or progress. The rate of production at the factory is skyrocketing.
  5. countable, uncountable The price of (an individual) thing; cost. He asked quite a rate to take me to the airport.
  6. countable, uncountable A set price or charge for all examples of a given case, commodity, service etc. Postal rates here are low.
  7. countable, uncountable A wage calculated in relation to a unit of time. We pay an hourly rate of between $10 – $15 per hour depending on qualifications and experience.
  8. countable, uncountable Any of various taxes, especially those levied by a local authority. I hardly have enough left every month to pay the rates.
  9. countable, uncountable A class into which ships were assigned based on condition, size etc.; by extension, rank. This textbook is first-rate.
  10. countable, obsolete, uncountable Established portion or measure; fixed allowance; ration. The one right feeble through the evil rate / Of food which in her duress she had found.
  11. obsolete, uncountable Order; arrangement. Thus sat they all around in seemly rate.
  12. countable, obsolete, uncountable Ratification; approval. c. 1610s, George Chapman, Caesar and Pompey Tis offerd, Sir, 'boue the rate of Caesar In other men, but in what I approue Beneath his merits: which I will not faile T'enforce at full to Pompey, nor forget In any time the gratitude of my seruice.
  13. countable, uncountable The gain or loss of a timepiece in a unit of time. daily rate; hourly rate; etc.

verb rates · rating · rated

  1. transitive To assign or be assigned a particular rank or level. She is rated fourth in the country.
  2. transitive To evaluate or estimate the value of. They rate his talents highly.
  3. transitive To consider or regard. He rated this book brilliant.
  4. transitive To deserve; to be worth. The view here hardly rates a mention in the travel guide.
  5. transitive To determine the limits of safe functioning for a machine or electrical device. The transformer is rated at 10 watts.
  6. UK, transitive To evaluate a property's value for the purposes of local taxation.
  7. informal, transitive To like; to think highly of. The customers don't rate the new burgers.
  8. transitive To take action to slow down the pace of the horse one is riding. Throughout the first turn is where the jockey rates the horse if the need arises. Rating a horse is where you keep it from putting out too much too soon.
  9. intransitive To have position (in a certain class). She rates among the most excellent chefs in the world.
  10. intransitive To have value or standing. This last performance of hers didn't rate very high with the judges.
  11. transitive To ratify. to rate the truce
  12. transitive To ascertain the exact rate of the gain or loss of (a chronometer) as compared with true time.

rate²

  • /ɹeɪt/ US, UK

Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English raten (“to scold, chide”), from Old Norse hrata (“to refuse, reject, slight, find fault with”), from Proto-Germanic *hratōną (“to sway, shake”), from Proto-Indo-European *krad- (“to swing”). Cognate with Swedish rata (“to reject, refuse, find fault, slight”), Norwegian rata (“to reject, cast aside”), Old English hratian (“to rush, hasten”).

verb rates · rating · rated

  1. obsolete, transitive To berate, scold. Then rated they hym, and sayde: Thou arte hys disciple.

rate³

  • /ɹeɪt/ US, UK

Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

Related to, or a variant of, ret. (Found dialectally also as rait.)

verb rates · rating · rated

  1. UK, dialectal, obsolete To cause (hay, hemp, flax, etc) to decay (whether in an injurious way, or—as retting—in a useful way) by exposure to weather, particularly wetness. From the "line pit" it [flax] is carried to the “RATING GROUND;" - a piece of unbroken aftergrass, where the sheaflets are untied, and the flax spread thin upon the grass. It is calculated, that a full crop ought to cover as much ground as it grew upon. Here it lies until it be sufficiently "rated;"

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