Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/rattaz

Etymology
The origin of this word (and the related ) is. It may derive from (whence e.g.  and ), but this is disputed, and Klein says that such a connection does not exist. The word may also go back to an unknown language. Kroonen notes that consonant variation is high in descendant languages, especially in the High German dialects. Older etymological sources explained the Germanic words as borrowings from Romance, but it is now accepted that this is not the case; Kroonen even asserts that the Romance (and Celtic) words must be borrowed from Germanic. He considers it plausible, however—especially considering dialectal /—that the Germanic word originally referred to a different animal. The rat itself may have been unknown in Europe at a Proto-Germanic date.

Noun

 * 1) rat