n. (pl.)
'rags'
(Modern English rats)The origins of this rare n., which always occurs in the pl., are obscure, but plausible ON comparanda point towards a potential Scandinavian etymon (thus MED, OED3). Cp. the rare OIcel hrati (m.) 'rubbish, trash' (attested once in the compound keraldahrati) and Icel hrat (n.) 'refuse'. These nouns are usually related to the v. represented by OIcel hrata 'to stagger, stumble' < PGmc *xratōjan- (cp. OE hratian 'to rush, hasten', MHG razzen 'rage').
PGmc Ancestor
?*xrat-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
cp. hrati 'rubbish, trash'
(ONP -hrati (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Cp. Norw rat, Sw dial rata; Icel hrat, Norw rat, Sw dial rat
OE Cognate
cp. hratian (v.) 'to rush, hasten'
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
D1c
MED and OED only cite one other instance in ME, from a1250 Wooing Lord (Tit D.18). OED3's 3 MnE citations all describe a dial word rats, with the same sense.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Erk 260