Rater

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹeɪtə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A person tasked with evaluating or grading the quality of goods or services according to specific standards
2. An individual who evaluates and assigns scores to products or services based on set criteria to determine quality or performance standards
3. A person who appraises the value or quality of items or services based on established benchmarks

Etymology: The word "rater" is a plain formation: the verb "rate" plus the agent suffix "-er," so it names someone who rates things. The verb has two separate sources. One is "rate" in the sense of appraising or estimating a value, the sense behind a person who grades quality. The other is an older "rate" meaning to scold or berate, which is a different word that happens to have the same spelling. The two verbs come from different roots and reached English along different routes. Because they converged in form, a single spelling now covers both the idea of assigning a value and the idea of harshly reprimanding, and "rater" inherits the first of these meanings. The scolding sense survives mainly in the verb itself, so the noun carries no trace of it in ordinary use.

Synonyms: evaluator, assessor, judge