Rate

Pronunciation

• enPR: rāt, IPA: /ɹeɪt/,

From Old French, from Medieval Latin rata, from Latin prō ratā parte (""), from ratus ("fixed"), from rērī ("think, deem, judge, originally reckon, calculate").

Full definition of rate

Noun

1. (obsolete) The estimated worth of something; value. 15th-19th centuries
• 1599, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, V.3:There shall no figure at such rate be set,
  As that of true and faithfull Iuliet.
2. The proportional relationship between one amount, value etc. and another. from the 15th century
• 2013-05-25, No hiding place, In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.
3. At the height of his powers, he was producing pictures at the rate of four a year.
4. Speed. from the 17th century
   The car was speeding down here at a hell of a rate.
• ClarendonMany of the horse could not march at that rate, nor come up soon enough.
5. The relative speed of change or progress. from the 18th century
   The rate of production at the factory is skyrocketing.
6. The price of (an individual) thing; cost. from the 16th century
   He asked quite a rate to take me to the airport.
7. A set price or charge for all examples of a given case, commodity, service etc. from the 16th century
   Postal rates here are low.
8. A wage calculated in relation to a unit of time.
   We pay an hourly rate of between $10 – $15 per hour depending on qualifications and experience.
9. Any of various taxes, especially those levied by a local authority. from the 17th century
   I hardly have enough left every month to pay the rates.
10. (nautical) A class into which ships were assigned based on condition, size etc.; by extension, rank.
    This textbook is first-rate.
11. (obsolete) Established portion or measure; fixed allowance; ration.
• SpenserThe one right feeble through the evil rate
  Of food which in her duress she had found.
12. (obsolete) Order; arrangement.
• SpenserThus sat they all around in seemly rate.
13. (obsolete) Ratification; approval.
14. (horology) The gain or loss of a timepiece in a unit of time.daily rate; hourly rate; etc.

Derived terms

• at any rate
• exchange rate
• flat rate
• interest rate
• mortality rate
• failure rate
• rate limiting

Verb

1. (transitive) To assign or be assigned a particular rank or level.She is rated fourth in the country.
2. (transitive) To evaluate or estimate the value of.They rate his talents highly.
• SouthTo rate a man by the nature of his companions is a rule frequent indeed, but not infallible.
3. (transitive) To consider or regard.He rated this book brilliant.
4. (transitive) To deserve; to be worth.The view here hardly rates a mention in the travel guide.
• 1955, Rex Stout, "When a Man Murders...", in , October 1994 edition, ISBN 0553249592, page 101:Only two assistant district attorneys rate corner offices, and Mandelbaum wasn't one of them.
5. (transitive) To determine the limits of safe functioning for a machine or electrical device.The transformer is rated at 10 watts.
6. (transitive, chiefly British) To evaluate a property's value for the purposes of local taxation.
7. (transitive, informal) To like; to think highly of.The customers don't rate the new burgers.
8. (intransitive) To have position (in a certain class).She rates among the most excellent chefs in the world.He rates as the best cyclist in the country.
9. (intransitive) To have value or standing.This last performance of hers didn't rate very high with the judges.
10. (transitive) To ratify.
• Chapmanto rate the truce
11. To ascertain the exact rate of the gain or loss of (a chronometer) as compared with true time.

Synonyms

• (have position in a certain class) rank

Derived terms

• rating

From Middle English raten ("to scold, chide"), from Old Norse hrata ("to refuse, reject, slight, find fault with"), from Proto-Germanic *hratōną ("to sway, shake"), from Proto-Indo-European *krad- ("to swing"). Cognate with Swedish rata ("to reject, refuse, find fault, slight"), Norwegian rata ("to reject, cast aside"), Old English hratian ("to rush, hasten").

Verb

1. (transitive) To berate, scold.
• ShakespeareGo, rate thy minions, proud, insulting boy!
• BarrowConscience is a check to beginners in sin, reclaiming them from it, and rating them for it.
• 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, John IX:Then rated they hym, and sayde: Thou arte hys disciple.
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.56:Andronicus the Emperour, finding by chance in his pallace certaine principall men very earnestly disputing against Lapodius about one of our points of great importance, taunted and rated them very bitterly, and threatened if they gave not over, he would cause them to be cast into the river.
• 1825, Walter_Scott, , ch. iv:He beheld him, his head still muffled in the veil ... couching, like a rated hound, upon the threshold of the chapel; but apparently without venturing to cross it; ... a man borne down and crushed to the earth by the burden of his inward feelings.
• 1843, Thomas_Carlyle, , book 2, ch. XV, Practical — DevotionalThe successful monk, on the morrow morning, hastens home to ... The successful monk, arriving at Ely, is rated for a goose and an owl; is ordered back to say that was the place meant.

Anagrams

• tare, tear