rat

Definitions

General English

Agriculture

  • noun a rodent Genus Rattus with a long tail, similar to but larger than a mouse, which can be very destructive of growing and stored crops and also carry disease to cattle and pigs.

Origin & History of “rat”

Rat is a general western European term, with relatives in French rat, Italian ratto, Spanish rata, German ratte, Dutch rat, Swedish råatta, and Danish rotte. these all come from vulgar Latin *rattus, whose origin is unknown.
http://www.dictionarycentral.com/definition/rat.html