Where does “Rattenschwanz” come from?

Rattenschwanz (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.

Rattenschwanz (German): rat tail

Definitions

  1. rat tail

Ancestry of “Rattenschwanz”, step by step

Rattenschwanz 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 schwanz

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanschwanztail
2Middle High Germanswanztail
3Middle High Germanswanzento swing
4Middle High Germanswanken—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European Hreh₃d- →