rato

See also: RATO and Rato

English

Noun

rato (countable and uncountable, plural ratos)

1. Alternative form of RATO (“rocket-assisted takeoff”).

Anagrams

• -ator, aort-, oart, Rota, taro, Orta, Roat, Taro, rota

Aragonese

Etymology 1

Un rato (1).

Inherited from Latin rattus (“rat”). Cognates include Spanish rato.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrato/
• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: ra‧to

Noun

rato m (plural ratos)

1. mouse

Derived terms

• rata

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin raptus (“seizure”). Cognates include Spanish rato.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrato/
• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: ra‧to

Noun

rato m (plural ratos)

1. moment, bit

References

• Martínez Tur, Feliciano; Rodés Orquín, Francho (2022), “rato / arrato”, in Diccionario aragonés-castellano-catalán‎^[2], Zaragoza, Spain: Estudio de Filolochía Aragonesa, Edicions Dichitals de l’Academia de l’Aragonés, published April 2025, →ISSN, page 954

'Are'are

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾato/
• Hyphenation: ra‧to

Noun

rato

1. sun

References

• Naitoro, Kateřina (2013) A Sketch Grammar of 'Are'are: The Sound System and Morpho-Syntax (Thesis)‎^[3], Christchurch, New Zealand: University of Canterbury, archived from the original on 2017-11-28

Catalan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish rato.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ˈra.tu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈra.to]

Noun

rato m (plural ratos)

1. (Castilianism) moment

   Synonym: estona

Etymology 2

Verb

rato

1. first-person singular present indicative of ratar

Esperanto

Rato en urba strato

Etymology

Probably of Romance origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrato/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: ra‧to

Noun

rato (accusative singular raton, plural ratoj, accusative plural ratojn)

1. rat (any rodent of the genus Rattus)

Derived terms

• bruna rato
• moskorato
• nigra rato

Further reading

• “rato”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “rato”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Galician

Etymology

13th century. Obscure. From a family of words common to most Romance and Germanic languages; the Germanic origin of this family of words is not universally accepted. Compare English rat.

The computing sense is a semantic loan from English mouse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrato̝/

Noun

rato m (plural ratos)

1. mouse
2. (computer hardware) mouse (input device used to move a pointer on the screen)
3. saury (Scomberesox saurus)

Related terms

• rata (“rat”)

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “rato”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “rato”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “rato”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “rato”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French râteau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣato/

Noun

rato

1. rake

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[4], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 163

Ido

rato (de speco Rattus rattus).

Etymology

Borrowed from Esperanto rato, English rat, French rat, German Ratte, Italian ratto, Spanish rata.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrato/
• Rhymes: -ato

Noun

rato (plural rati)

1. rat

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ratus, perfect passive participle of reor (“to deem, judge”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.to/
• Rhymes: -ato
• Hyphenation: rà‧to

Adjective

rato (feminine rata, masculine plural rati, feminine plural rate)

1. (literary, rare) ratified, confirmed
2. (canon law) valid, ratified, approved (of marriage)

   Antonyms: invalido, irrito

3. (law, rare) synonym of stipulato

Further reading

• “rato”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• Rota, Taro, Torà, arto, atro, rota, taro, tarò, torà

Latin

Adjective

ratō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of ratus

References

• “rato”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "rato", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “rato”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Māori

Adjective

rato

1. spread, distributed
2. available

Derived terms

• ratonga
• whakarato

Further reading

• Williams, Herbert William (1917), “rato”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, 5th edition, Wellington, N.Z.: Marcus F. Marks, page 381
• John C. Moorfield (2011), “rato”, in Te Aka: Māori–English, English–Māori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, →ISBN

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *ratō, from Proto-Germanic *raþô, *ruttô, *rattaz (“rat”). See German Ratte.

Noun

rato m

1. rat

Declension

Declension of rato (masculine n-stem)

case	singular	plural
nominative	rato	raton, ratun
accusative	raton, ratun	raton, ratun
genitive	raten, ratin	ratōno
dative	raten, ratin	ratōm, ratōn

Descendants

• Middle High German: ratte, rate
  • German: Ratte
  • Luxembourgish: Rat
  • Vilamovian: rot, rott

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

rāto

1. genitive plural of rāt

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.tɔ/
• Rhymes: -atɔ
• Syllabification: ra‧to

Noun

rato

1. vocative singular of rata

Portuguese

rato (Mus musculus)

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁa.tu/ [ˈha.tu]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁa.tu/ [ˈha.tu]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈʁa.tu/ [ˈχa.tu]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʁa.tu/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atu
• Hyphenation: ra‧to

Etymology 1

From Vulgar Latin rattus (“rat”), of Germanic origin. Cognate to Galician rato and Spanish ratón. Mostly displaced Old Galician-Portuguese mur. The computing term is a semantic loan from English mouse.

Alternative forms

• ratto (obsolete)

Noun

rato m (plural ratos, feminine rata, feminine plural ratas)

1. rat (any rodent of the genus Rattus)
2. mouse (any rodent of the genus Mus)

   Synonyms: (archaic) mure, (Brazil) camundongo

3. (computer hardware, Portugal) mouse (input device used to move a pointer on the screen)

   Synonym: (Brazil) mouse

4. burglar; petty thief (person who steals small objects)

   Synonyms: gatuno, ladrão

Derived terms

• arroz-de-rato
• jogo de gato e rato
• ninho de rato
• orelha-de-rato
• quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa
• ratada
• ratado
• ratão (augmentative)
• ratar
• rataria
• ratazana
• rateiro
• ratice
• raticida
• raticídio
• ratinho (diminutive)
• rato de biblioteca
• rato-almiscarado
• rato-almiscareiro
• rato-do-campo
• rato-toupeira
• rato-veadeiro
• ratoeira
• ratozinho (diminutive)

Etymology 2

From Latin raptus, compare Spanish rato.

Noun

rato m (plural ratos)

1. (Trás-os-Montes) while (a very short period of time)

   Synonyms: bocado, pouco

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

rato

1. first-person singular present indicative of ratar

Further reading

• “rato”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “rato”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “rato”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrato/ [ˈra.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: ra‧to

Etymology 1

Derived from Latin raptus.

Noun

rato m (plural ratos)

1. a while, bit (a short period of time)
   • 1997, Roberto Bolaño, “Henri Simon Leprince”, in Llamadas telefónicas [Last Evenings on Earth]:

     Durante tres meses, en los ratos libres que le deja el periódico y su labor clandestina escribe un poema de más de seiscientos versos en donde se sumerge en el misterio y en el martirio de los poetas menores.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. time

   Pasó un buen rato viendo la película.

   He had a good time watching the movie.

   Me hizo pasar un mal rato.

   I had a terrible time because of him/her.

Derived terms

• a cada rato
• a ratos
• al poco rato
• al rato
• buen rato
• mal rato
• para rato
• pasar el rato
• ratito
• rato perdido
• todo el rato

Etymology 2

See rata, the modern term.

Noun

rato m (plural ratos, feminine rata, feminine plural ratas)

1. (archaic) male rat

Further reading

• “rato”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “rato” in Lexico, Oxford University Press.

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɾa.to/

Noun

rato (Jawi راتو)

1. a gust of wind
2. a storm

References

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890), Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh