ratel

Borrowed from Afrikaans ratel.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪtəl/, /ˈɹɑːtəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

ratel (plural ratels)

1. Synonym of honey badger.

• → Italian: ratelo

• Alert, alert, alter, alter-, altre, artel, later, taler, telar

A shortening of Dutch rateldas, formed (in South Africa) from (dialectal) ratel (“honeycomb”) + das (“badger”).

• Audio:

  (file)

ratel (plural ratels)

1. honey badger
2. badger

   Synonym: das

• → Catalan: ratel
• → English: ratel
  • → Italian: ratelo

Borrowed from Afrikaans ratel.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [rəˈtɛl]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [raˈtɛl]

ratel m (plural ratels)

1. honey badger

• “ratel”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• IPA^(key): /ˈraː.təl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ra‧tel
• Rhymes: -aːtəl

From Middle Dutch ratele.

ratel f or m (plural ratels, diminutive rateltje n)

1. (music) ratchet, rattle
2. ratchet (tool or mechanism)
3. socket wrench
4. rattle (organ for making noise, such as a rattlesnake's)

• ratelaar
• ratelen

• → Papiamentu: ratel (dated)

From Middle Dutch ratele, a compound of râte (“honeycomb”) and -ele. The suffix is ultimately from Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (agent/instrumental/diminutive suffix), and râte (now raat) is ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *hrātu (“honeycomb”), which is probably inherited from Proto-Germanic *hrētō-.

ratel f (plural ratels, diminutive rateltje n)

2. (Belgium) honeycomb
   • 1895, De Mandelbie, volume 1, number 6, page 86:

     Zij zullen meêdoogenloos uitgeplunterd worden ; zelfs de ratels zullen hunne vraatzucht niet ontgaan, zooals gij verder zult zien.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1971, Vlaams Imkersblad, page 227:

     Honig diende tot voeding en werd als offer in de godsdienstige plechtigheden aangeboden. De oude Kelten, over drie duizend jaren, boden de landelijke godheden een ratel (raat) zeem aan om de zegening der veldvruchten te bekomen.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (uncommon, chiefly South Africa) ratel [from 18th c.]

   Synonym: honingdas

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ratel

1. inflection of ratelen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

• alert, later

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛl, (Brazil) -ɛw
• Hyphenation: ra‧tel

ratel m (plural ratéis)

1. honey badger (Mellivora capensis, a mustelid of Africa, Arabia and India)

   Synonym: texugo-do-mel

• “ratel”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “ratel”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /raˈtel/ [raˈt̪el]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: ra‧tel

ratel m (plural rateles)

1. honey badger

   Synonym: tejón de miel