This word is quite frowned upon nowadays because it evokes tax declarations such as “
pro rata temporis
”, which already appears in writings from 1360: “
lidis Robins will be out of it, and will only pay pro rata that will be held
”.
Plaids of the town hall of Venice in the administrative archives of the city of Reims.
Read alsoAgenda, this Latin word for everyday life
Expression used in the Middle Ages
Purely Latin terms,
pro rata
is amputated from
parte
, which is implied: "
according to the determined share
", pro, "
for
", "
according to
", rata, feminine ablative of ratus, "
counted
", "
calculated
", parte , ablative of pars, “
part
”, “
portion
”.
Essentially used in the adverbial phrase a prorata du (1526) and a prorata de (1541), it was substantiated at the end of the 17th century and evolved into “
share
”.
Currently, it is mainly used in the expression “
in proportion to
”.
We find the word pro rata in the literature, for example: "
Imagine a society where the instruments of production are the property of all, where everyone works according to his intelligence and vigor, and where the products of this social cooperation are distributed to each, in proportion to his effort
” Émile Zola – “
L’Argent
”, 1891
Excerpt from
Give Us Our Daily Latin
.
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