Where does “Leseratte” come from?

Leseratte (German) comes from German Ratte, from Middle High German ratte, from Old High German rato, from Proto-Germanic ratō, from Proto-Germanic rattaz, from Proto-Indo-European Hreh₃d- — to scrape.

Leseratte (German): bookworm

Definitions

  1. bookworm

Ancestry of “Leseratte”, step by step

Leseratte traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Ratte

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

via German Lesen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanLesengerund of lesen; reading; reading
2Middle High Germanlesento read, to read aloud
3Old High Germanlesanto read, to read aloud; to examine; to collect
4Proto-West Germanic*lesan
5Proto-Germaniclesanąto gather, collect
6Proto-Indo-Europeanles-to gather, to collect
Every word from Proto-Indo-European Hreh₃d-Every word from Proto-Germanic rattazEvery word from Proto-Germanic ratō