Etymology

berate

B3E1R1A1T1E1

Today it means: To chide or scold vehemently. Full definition →

English rate ← Middle English bi- ← Old English be-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbi-
  10. Englishbe-
  11. Englishrate
  12. English todayberate

From be- + rate (“to scold, upbraid”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.