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Origin and history of grate

grate(n.)

late 14c., "grill for cooking;" early 15c., "iron bars or cage-work across a door or window," from Anglo-Latin (mid-14c.), from Old French grate or directly from Medieval Latin grata "a grating, lattice," from Latin cratis "wickerwork, hurdle," which is perhaps (Watkins) from the same root as hurdle (n.). As a verb meaning "to fit with a grate," it is attested from mid-15c. Related: Grated; grating.

grate(v.)

"to scrape, rub," late 14c. (implied in grated), from Old French grater "to scrape, scratch (out or off); erase; destroy, pull down" (Modern French gratter), from Frankish *kratton, from Proto-Germanic *krattojan (source also of Old High German krazzon "to scratch, scrape," German kratzen "to scratch," Swedish kratta, Danish kratte "to rake, scrape"), probably of imitative origin. Senses of "sound harshly," and "annoy" are mid-16c. Italian grattare also is from Germanic. Related: Grated; grating.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to grate

hurdle(n.)

Old English hyrdel "frame of intertwined twigs used as a temporary barrier," diminutive of hyrd "door," from Proto-Germanic *hurdiz "wickerwork frame, hurdle" (source also of Old Saxon hurth "plaiting, netting," Dutch horde "wickerwork," German Hürde "hurdle, fold, pen;" Old Norse hurð, Gothic haurds "door"), from PIE *krtis (source also of Latin cratis "hurdle, wickerwork," Greek kartalos "a kind of basket," kyrtos "fishing creel"), from root *kert- "to weave, twist together" (source also of Sanskrit krt "to spin").

Used as temporary fencing in agriculture. Sense of "barrier to jump in a race" is by 1822 (hurdle-race also is from 1822); hurdles as a type of race (originally horse race) with hurdles as obstacles is attested by 1836. Figurative sense of "obstacle" is 1924.

grater(n.)

instrument for scraping (bread, ginger, etc.), late 14c., from Old French grateor, agent noun from grater "to scrape, scratch out or off" (see grate (v.)).

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fret
Old English fretan "devour, feed upon, consume," from Proto-Germanic compound *fra-etan "to eat up," from *fra- "completely" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + *etan "to eat" (from PIE root *ed- "to eat"). Cognates include Dutch vreten, Old High German frezzan
rankle
c. 1300, ranclen, of a sore, wound, etc., "to fester," from Old French rancler, earlier raoncler, draoncler "to suppurate, run," from draoncle "abscess, festering sore," from Medieval Latin dracunculus, literally "little dragon," diminutive of Latin draco "serpent, dragon" (see d
scrape
early 13c., scrapen, "make erasures (with a knife), erase" (a sense now obsolete); by late 14c. as "to remove (an outer layer) with a sharp or rough instrument," probably in part from Old Norse skrapa "to scrape, erase" and in part from cognate Old English scrapian "to scrape," b
strident
directly from Latin stridentem (nominative stridens), present participle of stridere "utter a shrill, inarticulate sound; grate...
rasp
rough instrument or something like one," from Middle Dutch raspen and from Old French rasper (Modern French râper) "to grate...
grind
Old English grindan "to rub together, crush into powder, grate, scrape," forgrindan "destroy by crushing" (class III strong...
roast
*hraustjan (cognate with Old High German rosten, German rösten, Middle Dutch roosten "to roast"), originally "cook on a grate...or gridiron," related to Germanic words meaning "gridiron, grate;" such as German Rost, Middle Dutch roost, from Proto-Germanic...
chew
"masticate, bite and grind with the teeth," Middle English cheuen, from Old English ceowan, from West Germanic *keuwwan (source also of Middle Low German keuwen, Dutch kauwen, Old High German kiuwan, German kauen). This is perhaps from PIE *gyeu- "to chew" (source also of Old Chu
render
late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, say again, recite; translate," from Old French rendre "give back, present, yield" (10c.) and Medieval Latin rendere, from Vulgar Latin *rendere, a variant of Latin reddere "give back, return, restore," from red- "back" (see re-) + combining fo
noise
c. 1200, "sound of a musical instrument;" mid-13c., "loud speech, outcry, clamor, shouting;" c. 1300, "a sound of any kind from any source," especially a loud and disagreeable sound, from Old French noise "din, disturbance, uproar, brawl" (11c., in modern French only in phrase ch

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