Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of rating

rating(n.1)

1530s, "a fixing of rates, proportionate distribution of charge or compensation," verbal noun from rate (v.2). Meaning "a classification according to grade or rank" is from 1764.

Ratings "statistical estimate of the size of an audience for a particular broadcast," originally radio programs, began in 1930 in U.S. under a system set up by pollster and market researcher Archibald M. Crossley (1896-1985), and were called Crossley ratings or Crossleys until ratings began to be preferred c. 1947.

rating(n.2)

"a reproving," 1570s, verbal noun from rate (v.1).

also from 1570s

Entries linking to rating

rate(v.2)

"estimate the worth or value of, reckon by comparative estimation," mid-15c., raten, from rate (n.). Intransitive sense of "have a certain value, rank, or standing" is from 1809; specifically as "have high value" by 1928. Related: Rated; rating.

rate(v.1)

"to scold, chide vehemently, rebuke," late 14c., raten, probably from Old French rateir, variant of reter "to impute blame, accuse, find fault with," from Latin reputare "to count over, reflect," in Vulgar Latin, "to impute, blame," from re- "repeatedly" (see re-) + putare "to judge, suppose, believe, suspect" (originally "to clean, trim, prune," which is reconstructed to be from PIE root *pau- (2) "to cut, strike, stamp"). Related: Rated; rating.

Old French reter also was borrowed into Middle English as retten "to blame" (c. 1300); also "to attribute, impute" (late 14c.), "to consider, think about" (late 14c.).

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trends of rating

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    A-1
    first-rate," 1837 (in Dickens); a figurative use from Lloyd's of London marine insurance company's system for selective rating...The letter refers to the condition of the hull of the ship itself, and the number rating to the equipment....in equivalent ratings in U.S., where colloquially it is sometimes expanded to A No. 1 (which is attested by 1848 as top rating...
    G
    As a movie rating in the U.S., 1966, standing for general (adj.). In physics, as an abbreviation of gravity, by 1785....
    adult
    In the old British film-rating system, A indicated "suitable for exhibit to adult audiences," and thus, implicitly, unsuitable...
    stroppy
    to which Callender adds, "There is nothing in this letter which an active service rating could fail to understand."...
    credit
    Credit rating is from 1958; credit union "cooperative banking society" is 1881, American English....
    egg
    It can do little things to ruin a program or else, by giving it its best, can really get that all-important rating....
    range
    c. 1200, renge, "row or line of persons" (especially hunters or soldiers), from Old French reng, renge "a row, line, rank," from Frankish *hring or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz "circle, ring, something curved" (from nasalized form of PIE root *sker- (2
    anger
    c. 1200, "to irritate, annoy, provoke," from Old Norse angra "to grieve, vex, distress; to be vexed at, take offense with," from Proto-Germanic *angaz (source also of Old English enge "narrow, painful," Middle Dutch enghe, Gothic aggwus "narrow"), from PIE *anghos, suffixed form
    tear
    "fluid drop from the eye," Old English tear "tear, drop, nectar, what is distilled in drops," from earlier teahor, tæhher, from Proto-Germanic *tahr-, *tagr- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian tar, Old High German zahar, German Zähre, Gothic tagr "tear"), from PIE *dakru- (so
    fink
    1902, of uncertain origin, possibly from German Fink "a frivolous or dissolute person," originally "a finch" (see finch); the German word also had a sense of "informer" (compare stool pigeon). The other theory traces it to Pinks, short for Pinkerton agents, the private police for

    Share rating

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near rating
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.