Etymograph

English

rattle

Rattle comes from Middle English ratelen ‘to rattle’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ratelen1‘to rattle’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596rattle1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rattle
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “Sound but another [drum], and another shall / As…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ratelenWiktionary, English rattle‘to rattle’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596rattleWiktionary, English rattle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “Sound but another [drum], and another shall / As…”

The story

From Middle English ratelen, of uncertain origin; perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch ratelen or of native origin related to Old English hratele, hrætele (‘a plant known for its rustling or rattling sound’), ultimately imitative.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Middle English ratelen

Another origin of rattle

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyH-‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*līðrā‘ingot’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλίτραlítra‘litra, a Sicilian silver coin’
  4. Aramaicc. 1000 BCE–700 CEרִיטְלָא
  5. Arabicc. 500–presentرَطْلraṭl‘rottol, a historical Middle Eastern and North African unit of dry weight equal to 1–5…’
  6. Englishtodayrattle

Today it means

verb To create a rattling sound by shaking or striking.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rattle”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English ratelen / rattle

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