Etymology

From a merger of two verbs:

• Proto-Germanic *rēdaną ‎(“to counsel; advise”, strong verb), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- ‎(“reason, count”)
• Proto-Germanic *raidijaną ‎(“to arrange; order; make ready”, weak verb).

Cognate with Old Frisian rēda (West Frisian riede), Old Saxon rādan (Low German raden) Old Dutch rādan (Dutch raden), Old High German rātan (German raten), Old Norse ráða (Icelandic ráða, Swedish råda, Danish råde), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽 ‎(garedan), which is akin to Gothic 𐍂𐍉𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(rodjan, “to talk together”) ^[1]. The Indo-European root is also the source of Greek αριθμός ‎(arithmós), Old Irish immrádim, Old Church Slavonic радити ‎(raditi), Albanian re ‎(“care, attention”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈræːdɑn/