ration

B1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈɹæʃən/ UK /ˈɹeɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #13398

Meanings

1

noun
A fixed amount of food or supplies given to a person when there is not enough for everyone.

The bread ration was reduced during the war.
2

verb
To limit someone to a fixed amount of something that is in short supply.

We rationed ourselves to three sips of water a day until we were rescued.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

hooverize

Word family

Forms rationedrationingrations

Derived forms derationrationablerationer

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

ration card
a document showing a person's entitlement to buy restricted quantities of goods

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Ration comes from Latin ratio, meaning “reckoning” or “reason.” It was used for a soldier’s daily share of provisions before becoming strongly associated with officially controlled allowances of scarce food during the First World War.

Etymology

From French ration. Doublet of reason and ratio.

*h₂er- Proto-Indo-European ration French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# ration

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹæʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹeɪʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 13398

## Meanings
1. A fixed amount of food or supplies given to a person when there is not enough for everyone.
2. To limit someone to a fixed amount of something that is in short supply.

## Examples
- The bread ration was reduced during the war.
- We rationed ourselves to three sips of water a day until we were rescued.

## Synonyms
- hooverize

## Derived Forms
- deration
- rationable
- rationer

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂er-
- Root: ration

## Etymology
From French ration. Doublet of reason and ratio.

## AI Etymology
Ration comes from French ration. Doublet of reason and ratio. Modern senses include a fixed amount of food or supplies given to a person when there is not enough for everyone. and to limit someone to a fixed amount of something that is in short supply.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as deration, rationable, and rationer.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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