prat

prat · noun, adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*brodno-“to wander about”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*prattuz“boastful talk, deceit”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*prattu
4. Old English · inherited frompræt
5. Middle English · inherited fromprat
6. English todayprat

From Middle English prat, from Old English præt, prætt (“trick, prank, craft, art, wile”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattu, from Proto-Germanic *prattuz (“boastful talk, deceit”), from Proto-Indo-European *brodno- (“to wander about”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian prat, Dutch pret (“fun, pleasure, gaity”), obsolete Dutch prat (“cunning, strategem, scheme, a prideful display, arrogance”), Low German prot, Norwegian prette (“trick”), Icelandic prettur (“a trick”). Related to pretty.

prat · noun²

Unknown. Perhaps a specialised use of Etymology 1 (see above).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 10th c. A cunning or mischievous trick; a prank, a joke.
• 13th–17th c. Cunning, astute.
• from 16th c. A buttock, or the buttocks; a person's bottom.
• from 20th c. A fool, contemptible person.
• from 17th c. The female genitals.