ratal

English

Etymology 1

Noun

ratal (plural ratals or irtal)

1. A traditional Maltese unit of weight, officially 1.75 imperial pounds (0.794 kg), now widely metrified informally to mean 800 grammes.
   • 2012, Dennis Angelo Castillo, The Santa Marija Convoy: Faith and Endurance in Wartime Malta, 1940-1942:

     The maximum price for locally grown produce was 4 pence a ratal for tomatoes, 6 pence a ratal for onions, 11 pence a ratal for potatoes, and 7 pence a ratal for cabbages.

Etymology 2

Adjective

ratal (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to a rate of taxation.
   • 1874, Patrick George Craigie, An Address on Local Taxation Reform, delivered to the Essex Chamber of Agriculture, at Chelmsford, 23rd October, 1874:

     So prominent, however, was now the position of the Local Taxation question, that the new Prime Minister had scarcely assumed office ere he emphatically endorsed the very arguments for reform so long urged by ratal reformers […]

   • 1877, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, volume 40, page 264:

     Valuable as much of the matter thus collected undoubtedly proved itself, and great as was the ability and industry which marked the compilation of its exhaustive tables, the effect of this report as designed to meet the complaints against ratal taxation, was scarcely so great as was probably expected.

   • 2017, Matthew Newsom Kerr, Contagion, Isolation, and Biopolitics in Victorian London:

     Nominee managers (gentlemen with a personal ratal qualification over £100) “represented liberality” and were intended to take a “wider view” of the MAB's responsibilities.

Noun

ratal (plural ratals)

1. The amount on which a tax rate is assessed.
   • 1907 August 24, The Economist, volume 65, page 1443:

     We have to provide for increased and increasing ratals and assessments.

   • 1954, The Magazine of Wall Street and Business Analyst:

     To encourage United States private investments abroad, the President proposed that incomes from such ventures be taxed at a rate 14 per cent below corporate ratals in the United States […]

   • 1960, Reports of the Tax Court of the United States, volume 35, United States Tax Court, page 756:

     The agency executed the leases to the tenants, had repairs made to the building, looked after the tax ratals and appeals, and watched the occupancy and use of the property so that insurance rates would not be affected.

   • 1963, Werner Kroth, Systems of Forest Taxation and Tax Impact Upon Private Forestry in Several European Countries:

     The land tax ratal is obtained by applying the land tax figure to the unit value.

Anagrams

• altar, artal, talar

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic رَطْل (raṭl), from Classical Syriac ܪܝܛܠܐ (rīṭlā), metathesis of ܠܝܛܪܐ (līṭrā), from Ancient Greek λῑ́τρᾱ (lī́trā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.tal/

Noun

ratal m (dual ratlejn, plural rtal)

1. a traditional unit of weight, still used e.g. in household contexts, officially 1.75 imperial pounds (0.794 kg), now widely metrified informally to mean 800 grammes

See also

• qantar
• uqija
• wiżna