Rat

See also: Appendix:Variations of "rat"

English

Proper noun

Rat

1. The first of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

See also

• (Chinese zodiac signs) (year of the ~) Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig ^{(Category: en:Chinese zodiac signs)}

Anagrams

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

German

Alternative forms

• Rath (obsolete)
• Raht (obsolete; in use from the 16th to the end of the 18th century, uncommon in the 19th century, officially proscribed since 1902)

Etymology

From Middle High German rāt, from Old High German rāt, from Proto-West Germanic *rād, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaz.

Cognate with Dutch raad, English rede and read (n.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁaːt/, [ʁaːtʰ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːt
• Homophone: Rad (according to the standard pronunciation of that word)

Noun

Rat m (strong, genitive Rates or Rats, plural Räte)

1. advice, counsel
2. council
3. councilor, councillor
4. (Germany) title of a Beamter ("Public servant") at the beginning of the senior service
5. (Austria) title of a Beamter ("Public servant") in the senior service after first promotion

Usage notes

(4) The title is always preceded by a prefix. The common prefix for civil servants in the administration is Regierungs- ("in government administration"), in which case the full title is Regierungsrat. Teachers hold the title of a Studienrat (Educational councilor).
In terms of hierarchy, the Räte are comparable to a Major or a Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander).

Declension

Declension of Rat [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Rat	die	Räte
genitive	eines	des	Rates, Rats	der	Räte
dative	einem	dem	Rat, Rate1	den	Räten
accusative	einen	den	Rat	die	Räte

¹Now rare, see notes.

Hyponyms

• Abteilungsrat
• Ältestenrat
• Amtsrat
• Aufsichtsrat
• Beirat
• Betriebsrat
• Bezirksrat
• Bundesrat
• Departementsrat
• Dorfrat
• Europarat
• Fakultätsrat
• Finanzrat
• Frauenrat
• Friedensrat
• Geheimrat
• Gemeinderat
• Gerichtsrat
• Hausrat
• Hofrat
• Hofrath
• Justizrat
• Kriegsrat
• Krisenrat
• Kronrat
• Länderrat
• Landgerichtsrat
• Landrat
• Lenkungsrat
• Militärrat
• Ministerrat
• Mitgliederrat
• Oberrat
• Ortsrat
• Personalrat
• Provinzrat
• Rechtsrat
• Reichsrat
• Revolutionsrat
• Sachverständigenrat
• Schulrat
• Staatsrat
• Stadtrat
• Ständerat
• Stiftungsrat
• Unternehmensrat
• Verwaltungsrat
• Weiberrat

 

Derived terms

• ratlos
• ratsam

Related terms

• Räterepublik
• Räteversammlung
• Ratgeber
• Rathaus
• Ratsabstimmung
• Ratsausschuss
• Ratsbeschluss
• Ratsfrau
• Ratsherr
• Ratskeller
• Ratsmehrheit
• Ratsmitglied
• Ratspräsident
• Ratstreffen
• Ratsversammlung
• Ratsvorsitz
• Ratsvorsitzender

 

Further reading

• “Rat” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Rat” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Rat” in Duden online
• Rat on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• “Rat” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• Beamter on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Regierungsrat (Deutschland) on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• Amtstitel on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German ratte, from Old High German ratta, perhaps from Proto-West Germanic *ratt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, though the consonantism in High German is unexplained.

Cognate with German Ratte, Dutch rat, English rat, Icelandic rotta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raːt/, [ʀaːt]
• Rhymes: -aːt
• Homophone: Rad

Noun

Rat m or f (plural Raten)

1. rat