Where does “rattler” come from?

Rattler comes from English rattle plus the agent noun suffix -er, ultimately from Latin -arius, meaning "one who does or makes," descended through Old French -er and Proto-Italic -os.

rattler (English): Anything that rattles; A rattlesnake; A freight...

Definitions

  1. Anything that rattles; A rattlesnake; A freight...

Ancestry of “rattler”, step by step

rattler traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English rattle

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishrattlea sound made by loose objects shaking or...
2Arabicرَطْل
3Classical Syriacܪܝܛܠܐ
4Classical Syriacܠܝܛܪܐlibra, pound
5Frenchlitrelitre
6Medieval Latinlitra
7Ancient Greekλίτραlitra, a Sicilian silver coin; libra, a unit of...
8Proto-Italic*līðrāingot

via German Ratte

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanRatterat
2Middle High Germanratte
3Old High Germanratorat
4Proto-Germanicratō
5Proto-Germanicrattazrat
6Proto-Indo-EuropeanHreh₃d-to scrape

Words derived from “rattler

Every word from Proto-Italic *līðrāEvery word from Ancient Greek λίτραEvery word from Medieval Latin litra
rattler — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer