# rate

Pronunciation: say "RAYT" /ɹeɪt/

## Noun

1. The proportional relationship between one amount or value and another, often expressed as a ratio.
   - Simple: How much of one thing there is compared to another amount.
   - _The town's unemployment rate fell to four percent, so four in every hundred workers lacked a job._
   - _The clinic's success rate is high, with nine out of ten patients fully recovering._
2. The speed at which something moves, happens, changes, or makes progress over time.
   - Simple: How fast something moves, happens, or changes.
   - _Scientists tracked the rate at which the glacier was melting._
   - _The company expanded at an impressive rate over five years._
3. A fixed price or charge for something, especially goods, services, or work paid per hour, day, or other unit.
   - Simple: The price charged or paid for something, such as a service or an hour of work.
   - _The plumber quoted a standard rate for any job under two hours._
   - _Postal rates increased across all package sizes this year._
6. A class to which a ship was assigned according to its size and condition, and by extension its rank.
   - Simple: A class or rank given to a ship based on its size and condition.
   - _Ships of the first rate carried the most guns and the largest crews._
   - _As a ship of the third rate, the vessel was smaller than the great flagships of the fleet._
9. A tax levied by a local authority, especially one assessed on property. *(UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: A tax that people pay to their local town or city government.
   - _The local council increased the rate on commercial properties._
   - _Unpaid rates can lead to legal action by the authority._
13. The amount by which a timepiece gains or loses time over a given period.
   - Simple: How much a clock or watch runs fast or slow over a set period of time.
   - _The watchmaker measured the movement's rate against a reference clock._
   - _Because the chronometer had a steady rate of three seconds slow per day, the navigator could work out the true time._

## Verb

4. To assign someone or something a particular rank, level, or quality; to consider or regard as being of a certain standard.
   - Simple: To judge how good someone or something is, or to place them at a certain level.
   - _Critics rate the film among the best of the decade._
   - _The agency rates hotels from one to five stars._
5. To evaluate or estimate the worth or value of something.
   - Simple: To judge or estimate how much something is worth.
   - _Before the auction, an expert rated the old painting at far more than the family had guessed._
   - _Most fans rate the original film far above its sequel, though the sequel made more money._
7. To determine the limits within which a machine or electrical device can operate safely.
   - Simple: To set the safe working limits of a machine or electrical device.
   - _Manufacturers rate the transformer for continuous operation at high loads._
   - _Technicians rated the power supply at five hundred watts._
10. To like or think highly of someone or something. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To think that someone or something is very good.
   - _I don't care what the critics say, I really rate his cooking._
   - _He doesn't rate the new manager at all._
11. To be regarded as having a particular value, rank, importance, or standing.
   - Simple: To be thought of as having a certain level of value or importance.
   - _Few credentials rate higher than years of real experience._
   - _In this town, loyalty rates above almost everything else._
12. To deserve something, or to be worth a particular response or amount.
   - Simple: To deserve something, or to be worth a certain amount.
   - _Few films rate a second viewing, but this one does._
   - _The new playground hardly rates a mention in the city's yearly report._
14. To assess a property's value in order to set the local tax owed on it. *(British)*
   - Simple: To work out how much local tax a building owner should pay, based on the property's value.
   - _Under the old system, the council would rate every shop and house by the yearly rent it could be expected to fetch._
   - _The borough rated the warehouse before the new charges took effect._
15. To determine the exact amount by which a chronometer gains or loses against true time.
   - Simple: To check exactly how fast or slow a clock runs compared with the correct time.
   - _Before a long voyage, navigators would rate the ship's chronometer against a radio time signal._
   - _The observatory rated each marine chronometer before issuing it to a ship._
16. To deliberately slow the horse one is riding in order to control its pace during a race.
   - Simple: To slow down the horse you are riding so it does not get too tired.
   - _A smart jockey will rate her horse early so it has energy left for the final stretch._
   - _He rated the colt through the early furlongs and pounced near the line._

## Noun

8. The worth or value of something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: How much something is worth.
17. An established portion or fixed allowance; a ration. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A fixed amount or share that is allowed to someone.
18. Ratification; formal approval given to an agreement. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Official approval or agreement to something.
19. Order; the way in which things are arranged or disposed. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The way things are put in order or arranged.

## Verb

20. To scold or berate someone harshly. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To shout at or scold someone angrily.
21. To cause hay, hemp, flax, or similar material to rot through exposure to weather, especially wetness. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: To leave hay, flax, or hemp out in wet weather so that it rots.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To confirm or give formal approval to an agreement or document.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–19** — Latin rērī ("to think, judge, estimate," at first "to reckon, calculate") produced ratus ("fixed"), used in the phrase prō ratā parte, meaning "according to a fixed part." Medieval Latin rata came from this, and it led to Old French rate and Middle English rate.
**Meaning 20** — Proto-Indo-European *krad- ("to swing") led to Proto-Germanic *hratōną ("to sway, shake") and Old Norse hrata ("to refuse, reject, find fault with"). Middle English took this as raten ("to scold, chide"). Swedish rata and Norwegian rata ("to reject") are cognates.
**Meaning 21** — This word is either a variant of ret or related to it. Some dialects also have it in the form rait.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/rate (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).