Where does “rats” come from?

rats (Volapük) comes from Volapük rat, from English rat, from Middle English raat, from Old English ræt, from Old English rætt, from Proto-Germanic rattaz, from Proto-Indo-European Hreh₃d- — to scrape.

rats (Volapük): nominative plural of rat

Definitions

  1. nominative plural of rat

Ancestry of “rats”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Volapükratrat (rodent of the family Muridae)
2EnglishratA medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus...
3Middle EnglishraatAlternative form of ratte
4Old EnglishrætAlternative form of rætt
5Old Englishrættrat
6Proto-Germanicrattazrat
7Proto-Indo-EuropeanHreh₃d-to scrape
Every word from Proto-Indo-European Hreh₃d- →Every word from Proto-Germanic rattaz →Every word from Old English rætt →