Other forms: berates, berated, berating
To berate is to scold somebody at length. Berate him publicly, berated for the mistake, berating the staff.
The length is the point, since berating is sustained rather than a single sharp word. It is nearly always done downwards, by somebody with authority over the person being berated.
1verbberateTo scold somebody at length.
“The coach berated his players for their lazy performance.”
berate is a scolding.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
Latin
prō ratā parte — according to a fixed part
Medieval Latin
rata
Old French
rate
Middle English
rate
English
rate
English, today
berate
Built from
From be- + rate. rate comes from Middle English rate, from Old French rate, from Medieval Latin rata, from Latin prō ratā parte (“according to a fixed part”), from ratus (“fixed”), from reor (“think, deem, judge, estimate", originally "reckon, calculate”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA