rate

/reɪt/

/reɪt/

Other forms: rates; rating; rated; rationed

When you pay a high rate, you pay a lot of money. When you move at a high rate of speed, you go fast. If you are a judge at a contest, you rate the contestants.

It's interesting how one word can have different origins for different meanings. For example, the noun rate, referring to amounts comes from the Latin rata, “a fixed amount.” But the verb rate seems to come from the Scandinavian rata, "to reject." If the person you are dating asks you to rate them against your previous partners, you might change the subject at a high rate of speed.

Definitions of rate

1. noun

   a quantity or amount or measure considered as a proportion of another quantity or amount or measure
   “the literacy rate”

   “the retention rate”

   “the dropout rate”

   type of:

   proportion

   the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole
2. noun

   amount of a charge or payment relative to some basis
   “a 10-minute phone call at that rate would cost $5”

   synonyms: charge per unit

   types:

   pay rate, rate of pay

   amount of money received per unit time

   installment rate, payment rate, rate of payment, repayment rate

   the amount of money paid out per unit time

   tax rate

   rate used to calculate tax liability

   interest rate, rate of interest

   the percentage of a sum of money charged for its use

   freight, freight rate, freightage

   the charge for transporting something by common carrier

   depreciation rate, rate of depreciation

   the rate at which the value of property is reduced; used to calculate tax deduction

   exchange rate, rate of exchange

   the charge for exchanging currency of one country for currency of another

   excursion rate

   a reduced rate for a round-trip ticket

   footage

   a rate of charging by the linear foot of work done

   linage, lineage

   a rate of payment for written material that is measured according to the number of lines submitted

   room rate

   the rate charged daily for a hotel room

   time and a half

   a rate of pay that is 1.5 times the regular rate; for overtime work

   bank discount, discount, discount rate

   interest on an annual basis deducted in advance on a loan

   discount rate

   the rate of interest set by the Federal Reserve that member banks are charged when they borrow money through the Federal Reserve System

   base rate

   the interest rate set by the Bank of England for lending to other banks

   prime interest rate

   the interest rate on short-term loans that banks charge their commercial customers with high credit ratings

   usury, vigorish

   an exorbitant or unlawful rate of interest

   type of:

   charge

   the price charged for some article or service
3. noun

   a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit
   “they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour”

   “the rate of change was faster than expected”

   types:

   acceleration

   (physics) a rate of increase of velocity

   deceleration

   (physics) a rate of decrease in velocity

   attrition rate, rate of attrition

   the rate of shrinkage in size or number

   birth rate, birthrate, fertility, fertility rate, natality

   the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year

   bits per second, bps

   (computer science) the rate at which data is transferred (as by a modem)

   crime rate

   the ratio of crimes in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year

   data rate

   the rate at which circuits or other devices operate when handling digital information

   death rate, deathrate, fatality rate, mortality, mortality rate

   the ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 per year

   dose rate

   the quantity of radiation absorbed per unit time

   ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, sed rate, sedimentation rate

   the rate at which red blood cells settle out in a tube of blood under standardized conditions; a high rate usually indicates the presence of inflammation

   flow, flow rate, rate of flow

   the amount of fluid that flows in a given time

   flux

   the rate of flow of energy or particles across a given surface

   frequence, frequency, oftenness

   the number of occurrences within a given time period

   GHz, Gc, gigacycle, gigacycle per second, gigahertz

   1,000,000,000 periods per second

   growth rate, rate of growth

   the rate of increase in size per unit time

   Hz, cps, cycle, cycle per second, cycles/second, hertz

   the unit of frequency; one hertz has a periodic interval of one second

   inflation rate, rate of inflation

   the rate of change of prices (as indicated by a price index) calculated on a monthly or annual basis

   jerk

   (mechanics) the rate of change of acceleration

   kHz, kc, kilocycle, kilocycle per second, kilohertz

   one thousand periods per second

   kilometers per hour, kilometres per hour, km/h, kph

   the ratio of the distance traveled (in kilometers) to the time spent traveling (in hours)

   MHz, Mc, megacycle, megacycle per second, megahertz

   one million periods per second

   THz, terahertz

   one trillion periods per second

   metabolic rate

   rate of metabolism; the amount of energy expended in a give period

   miles per hour, mph

   the ratio of the distance traveled (in miles) to the time spent traveling (in hours)

   gait, pace

   the rate of moving (especially walking or running)

   heart rate, pulse, pulse rate

   the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health

   rate of return

   the amount returned per unit of time expressed as a percentage of the cost

   rate of respiration, respiratory rate

   the rate at which a person inhales and exhales; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health

   rev, revolutions per minute, rpm

   rate of revolution of a motor

   sampling rate

   (telecommunication) the frequency of sampling per unit time

   solar constant

   the rate at which radiant solar energy is received at the outer layer of the earth's atmosphere

   spacing

   the time between occurrences of a repeating event

   speed, velocity

   distance travelled per unit time

   pace, tempo

   the rate of some repeating event

   words per minute, wpm

   the rate at which words are produced (as in speaking or typing)

   audio, audio frequency

   an audible acoustic wave frequency

   radio frequency

   an electromagnetic wave frequency between audio and infrared

   infrared, infrared frequency

   the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum; electromagnetic wave frequencies below the visible range

   angular acceleration

   (physics) the rate of change of the angular velocity of a rotating body

   angular velocity

   (physics) the rate of change of the angular position of a rotating body; usually expressed in radians per second or radians per minute

   BMR, basal metabolic rate

   the rate at which heat is produced by an individual in a resting state

   wave number

   the reciprocal of the wavelength of a wave

   centripetal acceleration

   the acceleration toward the center that holds a satellite in elliptical orbit

   cardiac output

   the amount of blood pumped out by the ventricles in a given period of time

   isometry

   the growth rates in different parts of a growing organism are the same

   femoral pulse

   pulse of the femoral artery (felt in the groin)

   radial pulse

   pulse of the radial artery (felt in the wrist)

   ROI, return on invested capital, return on investment

   (corporate finance) the amount, expressed as a percentage, that is earned on a company's total capital calculated by dividing the total capital into earnings before interest, taxes, or dividends are paid

   Nyquist rate

   (telecommunication) the lowest sampling rate that will permit accurate reconstruction of a sampled analog signal

   quick time

   a normal marching pace of 120 steps per minute

   double time

   a fast marching pace (180 steps/min) or slow jog

   airspeed

   the speed of an aircraft relative to the air in which it is flying

   escape velocity

   the minimum velocity needed to escape a gravitational field

   groundspeed

   the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground

   hypervelocity

   excessive velocity

   muzzle velocity

   the velocity of a projectile as it leaves the muzzle of a gun

   peculiar velocity

   velocity with respect to the local standard of rest

   radial velocity

   velocity along the line of sight toward or away from the observer

   c, light speed, speed of light

   the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy and universality of the speed of light is recognized by defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second

   steerageway

   (nautical) the minimum rate of motion needed for a vessel to be maneuvered

   terminal velocity

   the constant maximum velocity reached by a body falling through the atmosphere under the attraction of gravity

   attendance

   the frequency with which a person is present

   count per minute, counts/minute

   frequency per minute

   sampling frequency

   (telecommunication) the frequency of sampling a continuously varying signal

   infant deathrate, infant mortality, infant mortality rate

   the death rate during the first year of life

   neonatal mortality, neonatal mortality rate

   the death rate during the first 28 days of life

   M.M., beats per minute, bpm, metronome marking

   the pace of music measured by the number of beats occurring in 60 seconds

   channel capacity

   the maximum data rate that can be attained over a given channel

   neutron flux

   the rate of flow of neutrons; the number of neutrons passing through a unit area in unit time

   radiant flux

   the rate of flow of radiant energy (electromagnetic waves)

   type of:

   magnitude relation, quantitative relation

   a relation between magnitudes
4. noun

   the relative speed of progress or change
   “he works at a great rate”

   synonyms: clip, pace

   types:

   fastness, speed, swiftness

   a rate (usually rapid) at which something happens

   beat

   a regular rate of repetition

   celerity, quickness, rapidity, rapidness, speediness

   a rate that is rapid

   deliberateness, deliberation, slowness, unhurriedness

   a rate demonstrating an absence of haste or hurry

   sluggishness

   the pace of things that move relatively slowly

   fleetness

   rapidity of movement

   immediacy, immediateness, instancy, instantaneousness

   the quickness of action or occurrence

   despatch, dispatch, expedition, expeditiousness

   the property of being prompt and efficient

   promptitude, promptness

   the characteristic of doing things without delay

   haste, hastiness, hurriedness, hurry, precipitation

   overly eager speed (and possible carelessness)

   execution speed

   (computer science) the speed with which a computational device can execute instructions; measured in MIPS

   graduality, gradualness

   the quality of being gradual or of coming about by gradual stages

   leisureliness

   slowness by virtue of being leisurely

   dilatoriness, procrastination

   slowness as a consequence of not getting around to it

   type of:

   temporal property

   a property relating to time
5. verb

   estimate the value of
   “How would you rate his chances to become President?”

   “Gold was rated highly among the Romans”

   synonyms: value

   types:

   revalue

   value anew

   appreciate, apprise, apprize

   increase the value of

   type of:

   appraise, assess, evaluate, measure, valuate, value

   evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of
6. verb

   assign a rank or rating to
   “The restaurant is rated highly in the food guide”

   synonyms: grade, order, place, range, rank

   types:

   superordinate

   place in a superior order or rank

   shortlist

   put someone or something on a short list

   seed

   distribute (players or teams) so that outstanding teams or players will not meet in the early rounds

   reorder

   assign a new order to

   subordinate

   rank or order as less important or consider of less value

   prioritise, prioritize

   assign a priority to

   sequence

   arrange in a sequence

   downgrade

   rate lower; lower in value or esteem

   upgrade

   rate higher; raise in value or esteem

   invert, reverse

   reverse the position, order, relation, or condition of

   countermarch

   change the order of soldiers during a march

   outclass

   cause to appear in a lower class

   type of:

   evaluate, judge, pass judgment

   form a critical opinion of
7. verb

   be worthy of or have a certain rating
   “This bond rates highly”

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)