An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Rat
Rat, masculine, ‘counsel, advice, deliberation, council,’ from Middle High German and Old High German rât (genitive râtes), masculine, ‘counsel, means at hand, store of provisions’; these meanings are still partly preserved by Modern High German Gerät, Vorrat, Hausrat, Unrat. A verbal abstract of Modern High German raten, Middle High German râten, Old High German râtan, ‘to advise’; compare the equivalent Gothic rêdan, Old Icelandic râða, Anglo-Saxon rœ̂dan (to which English to read is akin?), Old Saxon râdan. Some etymologists have connected the common Teutonic rêdan, ‘to advise,’ with Latin reor, ‘to suppose’; in that case the dental of the Teutonic verb is properly only part of the present stem, which was afterwards joined to the root. Others with equal reason have referred to the Sanscrit root râdh, ‘to carry out a project, put to rights, obtain; to appease,’ and to Sanscrit raditi, ‘to feel solicitous, trouble oneself about.’ —