prorate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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proratesimple
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proratessimple
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have proratedperfect
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has proratedperfect
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am proratingprogressive
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are proratingprogressive
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is proratingprogressive
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have been proratingperfect progressive
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has been proratingperfect progressive
Past
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proratedsimple
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had proratedperfect
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was proratingprogressive
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were proratingprogressive
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had been proratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prorate
An Americanism first recorded in 1855–60; partial translation of pro rata
Explanation
To prorate is to divide something in a proportional way, based on time. If your new landlord prorates your first month's rent, she only charges you for the days you've actually lived in your apartment. The word prorate comes from the Latin pro rata, "according to the calculated share," and when someone prorates a bill or payment, they only charge you for a certain share. Instead of billing you for a fixed rate, they calculate the price based on how much you've used the service: "The electric company will prorate August's bill, since you moved out mid-month."
Vocabulary lists containing prorate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If investors as a group request more than 5%, the funds have to choose: honor the whole ask, or stick to the limit and prorate every investor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Private credit investors may grumble, as some funds prorate redemption requests.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
In the U.S., some states already prorate vehicle registration fees based on weight, and Washington, D.C. recently overhauled its registration system to more heavily penalize larger cars.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2023
Lundgren said the museum would try and prorate as many refunds as they could.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
In almost every one of the prorate dwellings which fringed the Great Canal were to be seen plate, mirrors, jewellery, tapestry, paintings, carving, such as might move the envy of the master of Holyrood.
From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 5 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
They turned $4.5 million of Roullier’s base salary into a signing bonus, which prorates over the final three years of his deal and saves them $3 million in salary cap space this season.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2022
Cartons of milk at a dollar store are only 16 ounces – which prorates to $8 per gallon, more than what you’d pay for even top-of-the line milk at Whole Foods.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 28, 2018
Last year, they led the N.H.L. with 65 fighting majors; this season they were tied for 22nd with 18, which prorates to 31 over a full season.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2013
Colonel Ernest O. Thompson, chairman of the Railroad Commission which prorates Texas oil production, declared that Texas' 400,000 bbls. daily curtailment was being offset by uncontrolled production elsewhere.*
From Time Magazine Archive
The new deals typically add void years and convert salary into signing bonus that is prorated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Void years are fake years added to a contract solely to spread out prorated bonuses over a longer period—to put off the team’s financial hit for a player.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
If too many people want out at once, investors get back a prorated amount of the redemptions they requested.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026
But even factoring in a special $15 dividend, prorated over, say, three years, Costco’s dividend yield would only amount to 1.1%.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
I asked, unaware that this was the first official time of so many to come when I’d receive the prorated orphan discount.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
Specifically, the prorating of that bonus and the salary allows for the cap hit to be reduced to $5 million for the 2021 season — $4.86 million less than it had been.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2021
Most insurance plan administrators and companies, however, don’t want to bother calculating and prorating payments for a few days late in a month.
From BusinessWeek ● Nov. 25, 2013
Any prorating based on a funding shortage would mean less money for people with other types of health problems.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2012
If owners add two games, they should compensate players by prorating their per-game salary over 18 games.
From New York Times ● Aug. 23, 2010
But in almost all other states prorating still booms along with little or no regulation.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
