ration
pronunciation
How to pronounce ration in British English:
UK [ˈræʃn]
How to pronounce ration in American English:
US [ˈræʃn]
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- Noun:
- the food allowance for one day (especially for service personnel)
- a fixed portion that is allotted (especially in times of scarcity)
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- Verb:
- restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity, as during war
- distribute in rations, as in the army
Word Origin
- ration
- ration: [18] Ration, like reason, comes from Latin ratiō, a derivative of the verb rērī ‘think, calculate’. This meant, among other things, ‘calculation, computation’, in which sense it has yielded English ratio [17]. In the Middle Ages it was used for an ‘amount of provisions calculated for a soldier’, and that meaning has channelled via Spanish ración and French ration into English as ration.The ‘thinking’ sense of ratiō has reached English as reason, but its derivative rational [14] is less heavily disguised. Other English descendants of Latin rērī include rate and ratify [14], and the -red of hundred comes from a prehistoric Germanic *rath ‘number’, which came ultimately from Latin ratiō.=> hundred, rate, ratio, reason
- ration (n.)
- 1550, "reasoning," later, "relation of one number to another" (1660s), then "fixed allowance of food" (1702, often rations, from French ration in this sense), from Latin rationem (nominative ratio) "a reckoning, calculation, proportion" (see ratio). The military pronunciation (rhymes with fashion) took over from the preferred civilian pronunciation (rhymes with nation) during World War I.
- ration (v.)
- "put (someone) on a fixed allowance," 1859, from ration (n.); sense of "apportion in fixed amounts" is from 1870. Related: Rationed; rationing.
Example
- 1. He does also accept that his ration coupons should be tradeable .
- 2. So ration cards make a big difference to the system .
- 3. Pressed rice cakes became popular during the war with america , as a durable and lightweight ration .
- 4. In turn moneylenders slip money to clerks to let them use the ration cards to collect the subsidized grain sugar and fuel .
- 5. Corrupt ration shop dealers pilfer food and sell it on the black market rather than to intended beneficiaries .